1.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
2
3.. _linux_doc:
4
5==============================
6The Linux Kernel documentation
7==============================
8
9This is the top level of the kernel's documentation tree.  Kernel
10documentation, like the kernel itself, is very much a work in progress;
11that is especially true as we work to integrate our many scattered
12documents into a coherent whole.  Please note that improvements to the
13documentation are welcome; join the linux-doc list at vger.kernel.org if
14you want to help out.
15
16Working with the development community
17======================================
18
19The essential guides for interacting with the kernel's development
20community and getting your work upstream.
21
22.. toctree::
23   :maxdepth: 1
24
25   Development process <process/development-process>
26   Submitting patches <process/submitting-patches>
27   Code of conduct <process/code-of-conduct>
28   Maintainer handbook <maintainer/index>
29   All development-process docs <process/index>
30
31
32Internal API manuals
33====================
34
35Manuals for use by developers working to interface with the rest of the
36kernel.
37
38.. toctree::
39   :maxdepth: 1
40
41   Core API <core-api/index>
42   Driver APIs <driver-api/index>
43   Subsystems <subsystem-apis>
44   Locking <locking/index>
45
46Development tools and processes
47===============================
48
49Various other manuals with useful information for all kernel developers.
50
51.. toctree::
52   :maxdepth: 1
53
54   Licensing rules <process/license-rules>
55   Writing documentation <doc-guide/index>
56   Development tools <dev-tools/index>
57   Testing guide <dev-tools/testing-overview>
58   Hacking guide <kernel-hacking/index>
59   Tracing <trace/index>
60   Fault injection <fault-injection/index>
61   Livepatching <livepatch/index>
62   Rust <rust/index>
63
64
65User-oriented documentation
66===========================
67
68The following manuals are written for *users* of the kernel — those who are
69trying to get it to work optimally on a given system and application
70developers seeking information on the kernel's user-space APIs.
71
72.. toctree::
73   :maxdepth: 1
74
75   Administration <admin-guide/index>
76   Build system <kbuild/index>
77   Reporting issues <admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst>
78   Userspace tools <tools/index>
79   Userspace API <userspace-api/index>
80
81See also: the `Linux man pages <https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/>`_,
82which are kept separately from the kernel's own documentation.
83
84Firmware-related documentation
85==============================
86The following holds information on the kernel's expectations regarding the
87platform firmwares.
88
89.. toctree::
90   :maxdepth: 1
91
92   Firmware <firmware-guide/index>
93   Firmware and Devicetree <devicetree/index>
94
95
96Architecture-specific documentation
97===================================
98
99.. toctree::
100   :maxdepth: 2
101
102   CPU architectures <arch/index>
103
104
105Other documentation
106===================
107
108There are several unsorted documents that don't seem to fit on other parts
109of the documentation body, or may require some adjustments and/or conversion
110to reStructuredText format, or are simply too old.
111
112.. toctree::
113   :maxdepth: 1
114
115   Unsorted documentation <staging/index>
116
117
118Translations
119============
120
121.. toctree::
122   :maxdepth: 2
123
124   Translations <translations/index>
125
126Indices and tables
127==================
128
129* :ref:`genindex`
130