Re: [PATCH RFC] changes.rst: introduce 'Required for'-column

[Manuel Ebner <manuelebnerli@mailbox.org>]

Hi Randy, 

On Wed, 2026-10-21 at 22:41 -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 10/7/26 9:37 AM, Manuel Ebner wrote:
> > The optional tag isn't obvious nor defined. Therefore remove the tag and
> > add column 'Required for' to make it easier to define the need for the tools.
> > 
> > CC: Miguel Ojeda <miguel.ojeda.sandonis@gmail.com>
> > CC: Nicolas Schier <n.schier@fritz.com>
> > ---
> > If anybody has info to add to or refine the new column I would appreciate it a lot.
> > Please forward this to list or people which can contribute to this patch.
> > 
> > There's also the option to remove the 'Command to check the version'-column
> > and refer to scripts/ver_linux - and with this also removing the duplicated
> > information-issue.
> > 
> > [v3]
> >  Rearange column space of the table in order to add column instead of replacing column
> >  add some requirements to the table
> > 
> > [v2]
> >  Ditch footnotes in favor of a column
> >  Replace 'Check Version Command'-column with optional-column
> >  https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260831152523.638881-1-manuelebnerli@mailbox.org/
> > 
> > [v1]
> >  https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260812122426.1636227-2-manuelebnerli@mailbox.org/
> > ---
> >  Documentation/process/changes.rst | 97 ++++++++++++++++---------------
> >  1 file changed, 51 insertions(+), 46 deletions(-)
> > 
> > diff --git a/Documentation/process/changes.rst b/Documentation/process/changes.rst
> > index 28f2ca633..dafe0530f 100644
> > --- a/Documentation/process/changes.rst
> > +++ b/Documentation/process/changes.rst
> > 
> >  
> >  ...
> > 
> >  
> > +==============  ========  =======================  ========================================
> > +    Program     Minimal      Command to check                  Required for
> > +                version         the version
> > +==============  ========  =======================  ========================================
> > +bash            4.2       bash --version           general requirement
> > +bc              1.06.95   bc --version             Kbuild (
> 
> Something missing after the '('?

There's something missing because I didn't know what to put there. I know bc is calculating
something during the build, but now how to put it.

> > +bindgen         0.71.1    bindgen --version        CONFIG_RUST=y
> > +binutils        2.30      ld -v
> > +bison           2.0       bison --version          Kbuild (.config)
> > +btrfs-progs     0.18      btrfs --version
> > +Clang/LLVM      17.0.1    clang --version          alternative to GNU C (gcc)
> > +e2fsprogs       1.41.4    e2fsck -V                ext4
> > +flex            2.5.35    flex --version           Kbuild (.config)
> > +gdb             7.2       gdb --version            Debugging
> > +GNU awk         5.1.0     gawk --version           objtool, CONFIG_SYSTEM_BLACKLIST_HASH_LIST=y
> > +GNU C           8.1       gcc --version            alternative to Clang/LLVM (clang)
> > +GNU make        4.0       make --version
> > +GNU tar         1.28      tar --version
> > +GRUB            0.93      grub --version ||
> > +                          grub-install --version
> > +gtags           6.6.5     gtags --version          to generate tag files through ``make gtags``
> > +iptables        1.4.2     iptables -V
> > +jfsutils        1.1.3     fsck.jfs -V
> > +kmod            13        kmod -V
> > +mcelog          0.6       mcelog --version
> > +mkimage         2017.01   mkimage --version        Flat Image Tree (FIT) or ARCH=arc, arm or powerpc
> > +nfs-utils       1.0.5     showmount --version
> > +openssl         1.0.0     openssl version
> > +pahole          1.26      pahole --version
> > +pcmciautils     004       pccardctl -V
> > +pigz            2.4       pigz --version           Compile and boot with KPGZIP=y
> > +PPP             2.4.0     pppd --version
> > +procps          3.2.0     ps --version
> > +Python          3.9.x     python3 --version
> > +quota-tools     3.09      quota -V
> > +Rust            1.85.0    rustc --version          CONFIG_RUST=y
> > +Sphinx          3.4.3     sphinx-build --version   build kernel documentation
> > +squashfs-tools  4.0       mksquashfs -version
> > +udev            081       udevadm --version
> > +util-linux      2.10o     mount --version
> > +xfsprogs        2.6.0     xfs_db -V
> > +==============  ========  =======================  ========================================
> > +    Program     Minimal      Command to check                  Required for
> > +                version      check the version
> > +==============  ========  =======================  ========================================
> 
> On my build of 'make htmldocs', the table ending confuses docutils.
> Did you build this with 'make htmldocs'?
> 
> Documentation/process/changes.rst:73: WARNING: Blank line required after table. [docutils]
> Documentation/process/changes.rst:75: WARNING: Block quote ends without a blank line; unexpected unindent. [docutils]
> Documentation/process/changes.rst:419: ERROR: Malformed table.
> Bottom border or header rule does not match top border.
> 
> ==============  ========  =======================  ========================================

I'll remove the bottom 'head-row'.

> 
> ...

Thanks
 Manuel