The Linux kernel mailing list (LKML) is the main
electronic mailing list for
Linux kernel development,
where the majority of the announcements, discussions, debates, and
flame war
Flaming or roasting is the act of posting insults, often including profanity or other offensive language, on the internet. This term should not be confused with the term trolling, which is the act of someone going online, or in person, and causing ...
s over the kernel take place.
Many other mailing lists exist to discuss the different subsystems and ports of the Linux kernel, but LKML is the principal communication channel among Linux kernel developers. It is a very high-volume list, usually receiving about 1,000 messages each day, most of which are kernel code
patches.
Linux utilizes a workflow governed by LKML, which is the "
bazaar" where kernel development takes place. In his book ''Linux Kernel Development'',
Robert Love
Robert M. Love (born c. 1981) is an American author, speaker, Google engineer, and open source software developer.
Love is best known for his contributions to the Linux kernel, with notable work including the preemptive kernel, process sche ...
notes:
The LKML functions as the central place where Linux developers around the world share patches, argue about implementation details, and discuss other issues.
The official releases of the Linux kernel are indicated by an email to LKML. New features are discussed and most code is posted to the list before any action is taken.
It is also the official place for reporting bugs in the Linux kernel, in case one cannot find the maintainer to whom the bug should be reported. Author
Michelle Delio
Michelle Delio is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Wired News, InfoWorld, and the MIT Technology Review. She has also written under her maiden name "Michelle Finley".
In 2005, it was alleged that Delio had made up 'color quotes' ...
suggests that it was on LKML that
Tux
Black tie is a semi-formal wear, semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for clothing, attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically ...
, the official Linux mascot, was suggested and refined, although the accuracy of her reporting in other stories has been disputed. Many companies associated with Linux kernel make announcements and proposals on LKML; for example,
Novell,
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
,
VMware
VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture.
VMware's desktop software ru ...
, and
IBM.
The list subscribers include all the
Linux kernel maintainers as well as other known figures in Linux circles, such as Jeff V. Merkey and
Eric S. Raymond. A 2000 study found that 14,535 people, from at least 30 countries, sent at least one email to LKML between 1995 and 2000 to participate in the discussion of Linux development.
Authors of books such as ''The Linux Kernel Development As A Model of Open Source Knowledge Creation''
and ''Motivation of Software Developers in Open Source Projects'', and ''Recovering Device Drivers'' have made use of LKML for their research studies and surveys.
Media coverage
LWN.net
LWN.net is a computing webzine with an emphasis on free software and software for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It consists of a weekly issue, separate stories which are published most days, and threaded discussion attached to ...
website frequently cover discussion on the lkml and the newsletter ''Kernel Traffic'' covered the activities of the Linux-kernel mailing list until November 2005.
Many internet websites include
archives
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
of the mailing list, such as lore.kernel.org/lkml, lkml.org, mail-archive.com and
marc.info.
Linus Torvalds on LKML
Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds ( , ; born 28 December 1969) is a Finnish software engineer who is the creator and, historically, the lead developer of the Linux kernel, used by Linux distributions and other operating systems such as Android. He also ...
is known for angrily disagreeing with other developers on the LKML. Calling himself a "really unpleasant person", he later explained "I'd like to be a nice person and curse less and encourage people to grow rather than telling them they are idiots. I'm sorryI tried, it's just not in me."
His attitude, which Torvalds considers necessary for making his point clear, has drawn opposition from
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
programmer
Sage Sharp
Sage Sharp (formerly Sarah Sharp) is a software engineer who has worked on the Linux kernel, including serving on the Linux Foundation's Technical Advisory Board for two years.
Sharp began working on the kernel in 2006 as an undergraduate at ...
and
systemd developer
Lennart Poettering
Lennart Poettering (born 15 October 1980) is a German software engineer working for Microsoft and the original author of PulseAudio, Avahi and systemd.
Life and career
Poettering was born in Guatemala City but grew up in Rio de Janeiro, B ...
, among others. In 2018 Torvalds took a break from kernel development to work on improving his behavior and instituted a
code of conduct
A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization.
Companies' codes of conduct
A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...
.
See also
*
kernel.org
kernel.org is the main distribution point of source code for the Linux kernel, which is the base of the Linux operating system.
Website
The website and related infrastructure, which are operated by the Linux Kernel Organization, host the reposi ...
home site for kernel source code distribution
*
LWN.net
LWN.net is a computing webzine with an emphasis on free software and software for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It consists of a weekly issue, separate stories which are published most days, and threaded discussion attached to ...
among other things, provides a weekly LKML news digest
*
KernelTrap
KernelTrap was a computing news website which covered topics related to the development of free and open source operating system kernels, and especially, the Linux kernel.
News stories usually consisted of a summary of a recent discussion from a ...
former news website
*
ZMailer
ZMailer is a SMTP mail transfer agent for Linux, BSD and other Unix-like systems.
It is intended for gateways or mail servers or other large site environments that have extreme demands on the abilities of the mailer.
It was first developed in ...
a mail transfer agent used by vger.kernel.org
References
External links
Subscribe to the Linux Kernel Mailing Listat Indiana University
LKML archiveat
MARC (archive)
MARC (Mailing list ARChive) is a computer-related mailing list archive. It archives over 31 million e-mails from over 2400 mailing lists, with approximately 320,000 new mails added per month. The archive is hosted by KoreLogic, and is maintained by ...
Majordomo lists at vger.kernel.org– Other Linux kernel related lists
A semi-daily LKML Summary PodcastOfficial FAQ of the Linux Kernel Mailing List(outdated)
The Linux Kernel HubKernel Traffic website
{{Linux kernel
Linux kernel
Electronic mailing lists