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6d ago

Linux Kernel Formalizes Continuity Plan for Post-Torvalds Scenarios

The new document codifies a 72-hour process to convene maintainers with the TAB if top-level repository leadership becomes unavailable.

Linus Torvalds in a bow tie
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Overview

  • A continuity document drafted by Dan Williams was merged into official kernel docs as Documentation/process/conclave.rst just before Linux 6.19-rc7.
  • The plan centers on a designated $ORGANIZER, defined as the most recent Maintainer Summit organizer or, as backup, the Linux Foundation Technical Advisory Board chair.
  • Within 72 hours of a trigger, the $ORGANIZER must open discussion with the latest Maintainers Summit invitees and convene a meeting with those invitees and the TAB; if no summit occurred in 15 months, the TAB selects attendees.
  • Next steps are to be communicated via ksummit@lists.linux.dev, with the Linux Foundation tasked to support implementation under TAB guidance.
  • The plan names no successor and instead outlines a process to choose new top-level maintainers, addressing the centralized mainline pull role and concerns over an aging maintainer base, while Torvalds remains in place with no retirement plans.