UDS Brussels: Prototype tool helps tracking kernel patches
Canonical's Steve Conklin presented the Patchtracker in the kernel roundtable during the first day of the international Ubuntu Developer Summit.
Steve Conklin, member of the kernel team at Canonical, wrote the patchtracker during the last couple of months, much of it in the last two weeks. The patchtracker is written in python running on the Django framework. It allows developers to locate all git branches in which a certain kernel patch found its way.
Kernel team member Steve Conklin (2nd from the right in the foreground, black T-Shirt) presents his new patch tracker in the kernel roundtable on Monday.
Conklin himself came up with the tool, because he was looking for a way to track various patches from upstream developers across different repositories. In this special case, he needed to keep his overview of the Intel graphics driver, which was to be applied both to Ubuntu Karmic Koala and Lucid Lynx. But even for other programmers this tool might be useful, because it can generally help identify the source of bugs.
"If the bluetooth module doesn't work in a distribution release but works in the latest mainline kernel," he explains, "The tool should quickly display the set of patches which are in upstream trees but not in a particular release. This is enabling one to see which small set of patches might contain the fix."
Conklin qualifies that this software (GPLv2 or later) is just a prototype that has proven the value of the concept. 'Soon I hope to have some improved configuration tools and examples, and a live web site demonstrating the tool', he adds. A website linking to the git source is already there.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
The GNU Project Celebrates Its 40th Birthday
September 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the GNU Project, and it was celebrated with a hacker meeting in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
-
Linux Kernel Reducing Long-Term Support
LTS support for the Linux kernel is about to undergo some serious changes that will have a considerable impact on the future.
-
Fedora 39 Beta Now Available for Testing
For fans and users of Fedora Linux, the first beta of release 39 is now available, which is a minor upgrade but does include GNOME 45.
-
Fedora Linux 40 to Drop X11 for KDE Plasma
When Fedora 40 arrives in 2024, there will be a few big changes coming, especially for the KDE Plasma option.
-
Real-Time Ubuntu Available in AWS Marketplace
Anyone looking for a Linux distribution for real-time processing could do a whole lot worse than Real-Time Ubuntu.
-
KSMBD Finally Reaches a Stable State
For those who've been looking forward to the first release of KSMBD, after two years it's no longer considered experimental.
-
Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released
The latest version of Nitrux brings plenty of innovation and fresh apps to the table.
-
Linux From Scratch 12.0 Now Available
If you're looking to roll your own Linux distribution, the latest version of Linux From Scratch is now available with plenty of updates.
-
Linux Kernel 6.5 Has Been Released
The newest Linux kernel, version 6.5, now includes initial support for two very exciting features.
-
UbuntuDDE 23.04 Now Available
A new version of the UbuntuDDE remix has finally arrived with all the updates from the Deepin desktop and everything that comes with the Ubuntu 23.04 base.