This is a brief list of all the files in ./linux/Documentation and what they contain. If you add a documentation file, please list it here in alphabetical order as well, or risk being hunted down like a rabid dog. Please try and keep the descriptions small enough to fit on one line. Thanks -- Paul G. Following translations are available on the WWW: - Japanese, maintained by the JF Project (JF@linux.or.jp), at http://www.linux.or.jp/JF/ 00-INDEX - this file. ABI/ - info on kernel <-> userspace ABI and relative interface stability. BUG-HUNTING - brute force method of doing binary search of patches to find bug. Changes - list of changes that break older software packages. CodingStyle - how the boss likes the C code in the kernel to look. DMA-API.txt - DMA API, pci_ API & extensions for non-consistent memory machines. DMA-ISA-LPC.txt - How to do DMA with ISA (and LPC) devices. DMA-mapping.txt - info for PCI drivers using DMA portably across all platforms. DocBook/ - directory with DocBook templates etc. for kernel documentation. HOWTO - the process and procedures of how to do Linux kernel development. IO-mapping.txt - how to access I/O mapped memory from within device drivers. IPMI.txt - info on Linux Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) Driver. IRQ-affinity.txt - how to select which CPU(s) handle which interrupt events on SMP. IRQ.txt - description of what an IRQ is. ManagementStyle - how to (attempt to) manage kernel hackers. MSI-HOWTO.txt - the Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI) Driver Guide HOWTO and FAQ. PCIEBUS-HOWTO.txt - a guide describing the PCI Express Port Bus driver. RCU/ - directory with info on RCU (read-copy update). README.DAC960 - info on Mylex DAC960/DAC1100 PCI RAID Controller Driver for Linux. README.cycladesZ - info on Cyclades-Z firmware loading. SAK.txt - info on Secure Attention Keys. SM501.txt - Silicon Motion SM501 multimedia companion chip SecurityBugs - procedure for reporting security bugs found in the kernel. SubmitChecklist - Linux kernel patch submission checklist. SubmittingDrivers - procedure to get a new driver source included into the kernel tree. SubmittingPatches - procedure to get a source patch included into the kernel tree. VGA-softcursor.txt - how to change your VGA cursor from a blinking underscore. accounting/ - documentation on accounting and taskstats. aoe/ - description of AoE (ATA over Ethernet) along with config examples. applying-patches.txt - description of various trees and how to apply their patches. arm/ - directory with info about Linux on the ARM architecture. atomic_ops.txt - semantics and behavior of atomic and bitmask operations. auxdisplay/ - misc. LCD driver documentation (cfag12864b, ks0108). basic_profiling.txt - basic instructions for those who wants to profile Linux kernel. binfmt_misc.txt - info on the kernel support for extra binary formats. blackfin/ - directory with documentation for the Blackfin arch. block/ - info on the Block I/O (BIO) layer. cachetlb.txt - describes the cache/TLB flushing interfaces Linux uses. cciss.txt - info, major/minor #'s for Compaq's SMART Array Controllers. cdrom/ - directory with information on the CD-ROM drivers that Linux has. cli-sti-removal.txt - cli()/sti() removal guide. computone.txt - info on Computone Intelliport II/Plus Multiport Serial Driver. connector/ - docs on the netlink based userspace<->kernel space communication mod. console/ - documentation on Linux console drivers. cpqarray.txt - info on using Compaq's SMART2 Intelligent Disk Array Controllers. cpu-freq/ - info on CPU frequency and voltage scaling. cpu-hotplug.txt - document describing CPU hotplug support in the Linux kernel. cpu-load.txt - document describing how CPU load statistics are collected. cpusets.txt - documents the cpusets feature; assign CPUs and Mem to a set of tasks. cputopology.txt - documentation on how CPU topology info is exported via sysfs. cris/ - directory with info about Linux on CRIS architecture. crypto/ - directory with info on the Crypto API. dcdbas.txt - information on the Dell Systems Management Base Driver. debugging-modules.txt - some notes on debugging modules after Linux 2.6.3. dell_rbu.txt - document demonstrating the use of the Dell Remote BIOS Update driver. device-mapper/ - directory with info on Device Mapper. devices.txt - plain ASCII listing of all the nodes in /dev/ with major minor #'s. digiepca.txt - info on Digi Intl. {PC,PCI,EISA}Xx and Xem series cards. dnotify.txt - info about directory notification in Linux. dontdiff - file containing a list of files that should never be diff'ed. driver-model/ - directory with info about Linux driver model. drivers/ - directory with driver documentation (currently only EDAC). dvb/ - info on Linux Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) subsystem. early-userspace/ - info about initramfs, klibc, and userspace early during boot. eisa.txt - info on EISA bus support. exception.txt - how Linux v2.2 handles exceptions without verify_area etc. fault-injection/ - dir with docs about the fault injection capabilities infrastructure. fb/ - directory with info on the frame buffer graphics abstraction layer. feature-removal-schedule.txt - list of files and features that are going to be removed. filesystems/ - info on the vfs and the various filesystems that Linux supports. firmware_class/ - request_firmware() hotplug interface info. floppy.txt - notes and driver options for the floppy disk driver. fujitsu/ - Fujitsu FR-V Linux documentation. gpio.txt - overview of GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) access conventions. hayes-esp.txt - info on using the Hayes ESP serial driver. highuid.txt - notes on the change from 16 bit to 32 bit user/group IDs. hpet.txt - High Precision Event Timer Driver for Linux. hrtimer/ - info on the timer_stats debugging facility for timer (ab)use. hrtimers/ - info on the hrtimers subsystem for high-resolution kernel timers. hw_random.txt - info on Linux support for random number generator in i8xx chipsets. hwmon/ - directory with docs on various hardware monitoring drivers. i2c/ - directory with info about the I2C bus/protocol (2 wire, kHz speed). i2o/ - directory with info about the Linux I2O subsystem. i386/ - directory with info about Linux on Intel 32 bit architecture. ia64/ - directory with info about Linux on Intel 64 bit architecture. ide.txt - important info for users of ATA devices (IDE/EIDE disks and CD-ROMS). infiniband/ - directory with documents concerning Linux InfiniBand support. initrd.txt - how to use the RAM disk as an initial/temporary root filesystem. input/ - info on Linux input device support. io_ordering.txt - info on ordering I/O writes to memory-mapped addresses. ioctl/ - directory with documents describing various IOCTL calls. ioctl-number.txt - how to implement and register device/driver ioctl calls. iostats.txt - info on I/O statistics Linux kernel provides. irqflags-tracing.txt - how to use the irq-flags tracing feature. isapnp.txt - info on Linux ISA Plug & Play support. isdn/ - directory with info on the Linux ISDN support, and supported cards. java.txt - info on the in-kernel binary support for Java(tm). kbuild/ - directory with info about the kernel build process. kdump/ - directory with mini HowTo on getting the crash dump code to work. kernel-doc-nano-HOWTO.txt - mini HowTo on generation and location of kernel documentation files. kernel-docs.txt - listing of various WWW + books that document kernel internals. kernel-parameters.txt - summary listing of command line / boot prompt args for the kernel. keys-request-key.txt - description of the kernel key request service. keys.txt - description of the kernel key retention service. kobject.txt - info of the kobject infrastructure of the Linux kernel. kprobes.txt - documents the kernel probes debugging feature. kref.txt - docs on adding reference counters (krefs) to kernel objects. laptop-mode.txt - how to conserve battery power using laptop-mode. ldm.txt - a brief description of LDM (Windows Dynamic Disks). leds-class.txt - documents LED handling under Linux. local_ops.txt - semantics and behavior of local atomic operations. lockdep-design.txt - documentation on the runtime locking correctness validator. logo.gif - full colour GIF image of Linux logo (penguin - Tux). logo.txt - info on creator of above logo & site to get additional images from. m68k/ - directory with info about Linux on Motorola 68k architecture. magic-number.txt - list of magic numbers used to mark/protect kernel data structures. mca.txt - info on supporting Micro Channel Architecture (e.g. PS/2) systems. md.txt - info on boot arguments for the multiple devices driver. memory-barriers.txt - info on Linux kernel memory barriers. memory-hotplug.txt - Hotpluggable memory support, how to use and current status. memory.txt - info on typical Linux memory problems. mips/ - directory with info about Linux on MIPS architecture. mono.txt - how to execute Mono-based .NET binaries with the help of BINFMT_MISC. moxa-smartio - file with info on installing/using Moxa multiport serial driver. mtrr.txt - how to use PPro Memory Type Range Registers to increase performance. mutex-design.txt - info on the generic mutex subsystem. namespaces/ - directory with various information about namespaces nbd.txt - info on a TCP implementation of a network block device. netlabel/ - directory with information on the NetLabel subsystem. networking/ - directory with info on various aspects of networking with Linux. nfsroot.txt - short guide on setting up a diskless box with NFS root filesystem. nmi_watchdog.txt - info on NMI watchdog for SMP systems. nommu-mmap.txt - documentation about no-mmu memory mapping support. numastat.txt - info on how to read Numa policy hit/miss statistics in sysfs. oops-tracing.txt - how to decode those nasty internal kernel error dump messages. paride.txt - information about the parallel port IDE subsystem. parisc/ - directory with info on using Linux on PA-RISC architecture. parport.txt - how to use the parallel-port driver. parport-lowlevel.txt - description and usage of the low level parallel port functions. pci-error-recovery.txt - info on PCI error recovery. pci.txt - info on the PCI subsystem for device driver authors. pcieaer-howto.txt - the PCI Express Advanced Error Reporting Driver Guide HOWTO. pcmcia/ - info on the Linux PCMCIA driver. pi-futex.txt - documentation on lightweight PI-futexes. pm.txt - info on Linux power management support. pnp.txt - Linux Plug and Play documentation. power_supply_class.txt - Tells userspace about battery, UPS, AC or DC power supply properties power/ - directory with info on Linux PCI power management. powerpc/ - directory with info on using Linux with the PowerPC. preempt-locking.txt - info on locking under a preemptive kernel. prio_tree.txt - info on radix-priority-search-tree use for indexing vmas. ramdisk.txt - short guide on how to set up and use the RAM disk. rbtree.txt - info on what red-black trees are and what they are for. riscom8.txt - notes on using the RISCom/8 multi-port serial driver. robust-futex-ABI.txt - documentation of the robust futex ABI. robust-futexes.txt - a description of what robust futexes are. rocket.txt - info on the Comtrol RocketPort multiport serial driver. rpc-cache.txt - introduction to the caching mechanisms in the sunrpc layer. rt-mutex-design.txt - description of the RealTime mutex implementation design. rt-mutex.txt - desc. of RT-mutex subsystem with PI (Priority Inheritance) support. rtc.txt - notes on how to use the Real Time Clock (aka CMOS clock) driver. s390/ - directory with info on using Linux on the IBM S390. sched-arch.txt - CPU Scheduler implementation hints for architecture specific code. sched-coding.txt - reference for various scheduler-related methods in the O(1) scheduler. sched-design.txt - goals, design and implementation of the Linux O(1) scheduler. sched-design-CFS.txt - goals, design and implementation of the Complete Fair Scheduler. sched-domains.txt - information on scheduling domains. sched-nice-design.txt - How and why the scheduler's nice levels are implemented. sched-stats.txt - information on schedstats (Linux Scheduler Statistics). scsi/ - directory with info on Linux scsi support. serial/ - directory with info on the low level serial API. serial-console.txt - how to set up Linux with a serial line console as the default. sgi-ioc4.txt - description of the SGI IOC4 PCI (multi function) device. sgi-visws.txt - short blurb on the SGI Visual Workstations. sh/ - directory with info on porting Linux to a new architecture. sharedsubtree.txt - a description of shared subtrees for namespaces. smart-config.txt - description of the Smart Config makefile feature. sony-laptop.txt - Sony Notebook Control Driver (SNC) Readme. sonypi.txt - info on Linux Sony Programmable I/O Device support. sound/ - directory with info on sound card support. sparc/ - directory with info on using Linux on Sparc architecture. sparse.txt - info on how to obtain and use the sparse tool for typechecking. specialix.txt - info on hardware/driver for specialix IO8+ multiport serial card. spi/ - overview of Linux kernel Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) support. spinlocks.txt - info on using spinlocks to provide exclusive access in kernel. stable_api_nonsense.txt - info on why the kernel does not have a stable in-kernel api or abi. stable_kernel_rules.txt - rules and procedures for the -stable kernel releases. stallion.txt - info on using the Stallion multiport serial driver. svga.txt - short guide on selecting video modes at boot via VGA BIOS. sysfs-rules.txt - How not to use sysfs. sx.txt - info on the Specialix SX/SI multiport serial driver. sysctl/ - directory with info on the /proc/sys/* files. sysrq.txt - info on the magic SysRq key. telephony/ - directory with info on telephony (e.g. voice over IP) support. thinkpad-acpi.txt - information on the (IBM and Lenovo) ThinkPad ACPI Extras driver. time_interpolators.txt - info on time interpolators. tipar.txt - information about Parallel link cable for Texas Instruments handhelds. tty.txt - guide to the locking policies of the tty layer. uml/ - directory with information about User Mode Linux. unicode.txt - info on the Unicode character/font mapping used in Linux. unshare.txt - description of the Linux unshare system call. usb/ - directory with info regarding the Universal Serial Bus. video-output.txt - sysfs class driver interface to enable/disable a video output device. video4linux/ - directory with info regarding video/TV/radio cards and linux. vm/ - directory with info on the Linux vm code. volatile-considered-harmful.txt - Why the "volatile" type class should not be used voyager.txt - guide to running Linux on the Voyager architecture. w1/ - directory with documents regarding the 1-wire (w1) subsystem. watchdog/ - how to auto-reboot Linux if it has "fallen and can't get up". ;-) x86_64/ - directory with info on Linux support for AMD x86-64 (Hammer) machines. zorro.txt - info on writing drivers for Zorro bus devices found on Amigas.