Gary Guo e189bdb687 rust: types: add ForLt trait for higher-ranked lifetime support
There are a few cases, e.g. when dealing with data referencing each
other, one might want to write code that is generic over lifetimes. For
example, if you want to take a function that takes `&'a Foo` and gives
`Bar<'a>`, you can write:

    f: impl for<'a> FnOnce(&'a Foo) -> Bar<'a>,

However, it becomes tricky when you want that function to not have a
fixed `Bar`, but have it be generic again. In this case, one needs
something that is generic over types that are themselves generic over
lifetimes.

`ForLt` provides such support. It provides a trait `ForLt` which
describes a type generic over a lifetime. One may use `ForLt::Of<'a>` to
get an instance of a type for a specific lifetime.

For the case of cross referencing, one would almost always want the
lifetime to be covariant. Therefore this is also made a requirement for
the `ForLt` trait, so functions with `ForLt` trait bound can assume
covariance.

A macro `ForLt!()` is provided to be able to obtain a type that
implements `ForLt`. For example, `ForLt!(for<'a> Bar<'a>)` would yield a
type that `<TheType as ForLt>::Of<'a>` is `Bar<'a>`. This also works
with lifetime elision, e.g. `ForLt!(Bar<'_>)` or for types without
lifetime at all, e.g. `ForLt!(u32)`.

The API design draws inspiration from the higher-kinded-types [1] crate,
however a different design decision has been taken (e.g. covariance
requirement) and the implementation is independent.

License headers use "Apache-2.0 OR MIT" because I anticipate this to be
used in pin-init crate too which is licensed as such.

Link: https://docs.rs/higher-kinded-types/ [1]
Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Reviewed-by: Eliot Courtney <ecourtney@nvidia.com>
Signed-off-by: Gary Guo <gary@garyguo.net>
Acked-by: Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Alexandre Courbot <acourbot@nvidia.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260525202921.124698-23-dakr@kernel.org
[ Handle macro_rules! invocations in the ForLt! proc macro's covariance
  and WF checks. Since proc macros cannot expand macro_rules!, add a
  visit_macro() implementation to conservatively assume macro
  invocations may contain lifetimes, forcing them through the
  compiler-assisted covariance proof.

  Fix a few typos in the documentation and in the commit message, add
  empty lines before samples, add missing periods and consistently use
  markdown.

  - Danilo ]
Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>
2026-05-27 16:24:59 +02:00
2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
2026-04-26 14:19:00 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst
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