Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Will you apply [some kernel patch]?
If it's a serious and non-intrusive bugfix that has been accepted into the upstream development kernel, then usually yes (please open a bug). Otherwise, generally the answer is no - instead of getting new features added to our kernel, we'd prefer you to contact the authors of that code and get them to finish off their work and submit it to the mainline kernel so that everyone can benefit.
Q. How do I know which "genpatches" release corresponds to a specific kernel release?
Check the Available Kernels page, or look in the ebuilds yourself.
Q. Will this page be moved onto www.gentoo.org?
Possibly, if we are able to keep it updated.
Q. Does genpatches include patches from the 2.6.x.y releases (linux-stable)?
Yes, and we frequently contribute patches to that tree. Note that genpatches does not modify the version string to take account of this, so it might not be obvious.
Q. Who maintains genpatches?
The members of the Gentoo Kernel project can be found on the Gentoo Wiki.
Q. Why dont you have a USE flag for [...]?
When we deem a patch as too experimental to be included in genpatches, a common response is "ok, so why don't you give the users a choice by using a USE flag to decide whether this patch gets applied or not?". The reason we don't do this is because this would greatly increase maintenance - we'd have to test multiple USE flag combinations, etc. We also aim to produce a single set of patches which works reliably everywhere.
If it's a serious and non-intrusive bugfix that has been accepted into the upstream development kernel, then usually yes (please open a bug). Otherwise, generally the answer is no - instead of getting new features added to our kernel, we'd prefer you to contact the authors of that code and get them to finish off their work and submit it to the mainline kernel so that everyone can benefit.
Q. How do I know which "genpatches" release corresponds to a specific kernel release?
Check the Available Kernels page, or look in the ebuilds yourself.
Q. Will this page be moved onto www.gentoo.org?
Possibly, if we are able to keep it updated.
Q. Does genpatches include patches from the 2.6.x.y releases (linux-stable)?
Yes, and we frequently contribute patches to that tree. Note that genpatches does not modify the version string to take account of this, so it might not be obvious.
Q. Who maintains genpatches?
The members of the Gentoo Kernel project can be found on the Gentoo Wiki.
Q. Why dont you have a USE flag for [...]?
When we deem a patch as too experimental to be included in genpatches, a common response is "ok, so why don't you give the users a choice by using a USE flag to decide whether this patch gets applied or not?". The reason we don't do this is because this would greatly increase maintenance - we'd have to test multiple USE flag combinations, etc. We also aim to produce a single set of patches which works reliably everywhere.