Kernel Source
Linux development takes place in many different places, geographically
and organizationally. "Official" development takes place in Linus's tree (a
"tree" being a source code repository), which is available on
kernel.org. Since it can be
difficult to get Linus's attention, usually Linus's tree is at least a
little out-of-date in almost all projects (which can be a good thing, since
that implies the code that does make it in is more mature).
In that past, it could be quite difficult to get code into the official tree, so PowerPC-specific work took place in PowerPC trees and was occasionally submitted upstream. Support for cutting-edge hardware would typically only be found in the cutting-edge PowerPC development trees, and only show up in official trees after a while.
However, these days it is much easier to get code into Linus's tree, and the fact that Linus uses an Apple G5 means he tends to be more interested in PowerPC patches. So current work is sent directly to Linus and the official trees. Since the need for PowerPC-specific trees is not as great as it was, they are being phased out.
In that past, it could be quite difficult to get code into the official tree, so PowerPC-specific work took place in PowerPC trees and was occasionally submitted upstream. Support for cutting-edge hardware would typically only be found in the cutting-edge PowerPC development trees, and only show up in official trees after a while.
However, these days it is much easier to get code into Linus's tree, and the fact that Linus uses an Apple G5 means he tends to be more interested in PowerPC patches. So current work is sent directly to Linus and the official trees. Since the need for PowerPC-specific trees is not as great as it was, they are being phased out.
Users wanting the latest working PPC kernel should first use their
distributions' source packages. Distributions apply many fixes and
enhancements to their kernels.
If the distribution does not offer some required feature or fix, visit kernel.org.
If the distribution does not offer some required feature or fix, visit kernel.org.
Developers should work directly with the official kernel.org trees and submit code directly to
those tree maintainers.
The status of kernel patches posted to the 32-bit and embedded development mailing lists is (occasionally) tracked in a web tool.
The status of kernel patches posted to the 32-bit and embedded development mailing lists is (occasionally) tracked in a web tool.
To build a ppc64 kernel, you'll need a suitable compiler.
Instructions for building one are
available.
The ppc64 architecture has been integrated into the main kernel trees, which are accessible via http, ftp, and rsync.
The status of kernel patches posted to the 64-bit development mailing list is (occasionally) tracked in a web tool.
The ppc64 architecture has been integrated into the main kernel trees, which are accessible via http, ftp, and rsync.
The status of kernel patches posted to the 64-bit development mailing list is (occasionally) tracked in a web tool.
These trees are no longer used; all
current work is being done in the official Linux source trees. However, for
historical purposes:
BitKeeper is a proprietary source control system that was used for PowerPC kernel source and later for official kernel source. To access the PowerPC source with Bitkeeper:
rsync is not a version control system. It is an efficient method of tranferring directory trees where most files have not changed (it only transfers changed files). rsync access to the PowerPC trees can therefore only allow access to the very latest version of a tree; you cannot revert to an earlier versions or see commit logs.
MontaVista has graciously provided rsync access to the bk trees. If there are problems with rsync access to these trees, please contact Tom Rini. To rsync the historical trees:
| linuxppc-2.4 | PowerPC patches not in the offical 2.4 tree |
| linuxppc-2.5 | PowerPC patches not in the offical 2.6 tree |
BitKeeper is a proprietary source control system that was used for PowerPC kernel source and later for official kernel source. To access the PowerPC source with Bitkeeper:
bk clone bk://ppc.bkbits.net/<tree> <directory>or (mirror provided by MontaVista)
bk clone bk://source.mvista.com/<tree> <directory>where <tree> is one of the trees listed above.
rsync is not a version control system. It is an efficient method of tranferring directory trees where most files have not changed (it only transfers changed files). rsync access to the PowerPC trees can therefore only allow access to the very latest version of a tree; you cannot revert to an earlier versions or see commit logs.
MontaVista has graciously provided rsync access to the bk trees. If there are problems with rsync access to these trees, please contact Tom Rini. To rsync the historical trees:
rsync source.mvista.com:: rsync -avz --delete source.mvista.com::<tree> <directory>where <tree> is one of the trees listed by the first command.
Last modified: 14 June 2005