docs: reporting-issues: tweak the reference section intro

Fine tuning to the intro of the reference section:

* Call the step-by-step guide what it is.
* Reorder the links to the guides on bug reporting to first mention the
  most modern one.
* Many small changes to streamline the text and slightly shorten it.

Signed-off-by: Thorsten Leemhuis <linux@leemhuis.info>
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Message-ID: <cd3ae7b1724d3b16b86488166f756a976e0ee83a.1773750701.git.linux@leemhuis.info>
This commit is contained in:
Thorsten Leemhuis
2026-03-17 13:33:05 +01:00
committed by Jonathan Corbet
parent c423d3295a
commit 83aa754da4

View File

@@ -244,42 +244,37 @@ The reference section below explains each of these steps in more detail.
Reference section: Reporting issues to the kernel maintainers
=============================================================
The detailed guides above outline all the major steps in brief fashion, which
should be enough for most people. But sometimes there are situations where even
experienced users might wonder how to actually do one of those steps. That's
what this section is for, as it will provide a lot more details on each of the
above steps. Consider this as reference documentation: it's possible to read it
from top to bottom. But it's mainly meant to skim over and a place to look up
details how to actually perform those steps.
The step-by-step guide above outlines all the major steps in brief fashion,
which usually covers everything required. But even experienced users will
sometimes wonder how to actually realize some of those steps or why they are
needed; there are also corner cases the guide ignores for readability. That is
what the entries in this reference section are for, which provide additional
information for each of the steps in the guide.
A few words of general advice before digging into the details:
A few words of general advice:
* The Linux kernel developers are well aware this process is complicated and
demands more than other FLOSS projects. We'd love to make it simpler. But
that would require work in various places as well as some infrastructure,
which would need constant maintenance; nobody has stepped up to do that
work, so that's just how things are for now.
* The Linux developers are well aware that reporting bugs to them is more
complicated and demanding than in other FLOSS projects. Some of it is because
the kernel is different, among others due to its mail-driven development
process and because it consists mostly of drivers. Some of it is because
improving things would require work in several technical areas and people
triaging bugs and nobody has stepped up to do or fund that work.
* A warranty or support contract with some vendor doesn't entitle you to
request fixes from developers in the upstream Linux kernel community: such
contracts are completely outside the scope of the Linux kernel, its
development community, and this document. That's why you can't demand
anything such a contract guarantees in this context, not even if the
developer handling the issue works for the vendor in question. If you want
to claim your rights, use the vendor's support channel instead. When doing
so, you might want to mention you'd like to see the issue fixed in the
upstream Linux kernel; motivate them by saying it's the only way to ensure
the fix in the end will get incorporated in all Linux distributions.
* A warranty or support contract with some vendor doesn't entitle you to
request fixes from the upstream Linux developers: Such contracts are
completely outside the scope of the upstream Linux kernel, its development
community, and this document -- even if those handling the issue work for the
vendor who issued the contract. If you want to claim your rights, use the
vendor's support channel.
* If you never reported an issue to a FLOSS project before you should consider
reading `How to Report Bugs Effectively
<https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html>`_, `How To Ask
Questions The Smart Way
<http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>`_, and `How to ask good
questions <https://jvns.ca/blog/good-questions/>`_.
* If you never reported an issue to a FLOSS project before, consider skimming
guides like `How to ask good questions
<https://jvns.ca/blog/good-questions/>`_, `How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
<http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>`_, and `How to Report
Bugs Effectively <https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html>`_,.
With that off the table, find below the details on how to properly report
issues to the Linux kernel developers.
With that off the table, find below details for the steps from the detailed
guide on reporting issues to the Linux kernel developers.
Make sure you're using the upstream Linux kernel