How am I supposed to keep up with kernels as a developer?

Question

I'm developing for a specific TI ARM processor with custom drivers that made it to the kernel. I'm trying to migrate from 2.6.32 to 2.6.37, but the structure changed so much I will have weeks of work to upgrade my code.

For example, my chip is the dm365, which comes with video processing drivers. Now most of the old drivers which were directly exposed to me go through v4l2, which might make more sense.

TI provides very little information for those upgrades. How am I supposed to keep up with the changes? When I google for specific file names, I seldom get a few patches with fewer comments on what changed and why and how old relates to new.

Answer 1

If you select a kernel to track, be sure to select one that is tagged for long-term support. But sooner or later you will have to move on...

Answer 2

• Target a specific kernel version for a longer time until you switch.
• Contact TI and ask if and how you can get that kind of information in advance.