August 3, 2026, stable branch maintainer Linux and staging subsystems, Greg Kroah-Hartman announced new rules for accepting changes to the drivers/staging directory. The reason for this was the recent "Invasion of LLM-created patches"Now, patches prepared by language models for this part of the kernel will be automatically rejected, with the exception of confirmed fixes for real vulnerabilities.
The drivers/staging directory is used to store drivers and other components that do not yet meet the requirements of the main branch. Linux. According to official kernel documentation, such code remains in staging until it requires additional work; after further development, it can be moved to the main part of the kernel, and undeveloped components are eventually removed.
However, Kroah-Hartman also pointed out another task of this subsystem: drivers/staging exists primarily as a place for new developers to learn how to contribute to kernel development.Many relatively simple tasks are intentionally left in place—code formatting fixes, transitions to new APIs, and minor rework. By completing these independently, newcomers learn how to prepare patches, communicate on mailing lists, and the review process.
According to the maintainer, automatic cleanup of such code defeats the very purpose of staging. He noted that developers could fix all formal flaws using automated tools if that were the primary goal. Instead, some simple tasks are retained so that humans can learn them. Therefore, Kroah-Hartman intends "automatically reject any patches created by LLM for the drivers/staging subsystem".
Attempts to conceal the use of the language model won't help either. Kroah-Hartman stated that such changes are usually easy to spot and warned authors that deliberately concealing the origin of a patch could be perceived as an attempt to deceive maintainers. The goal is for people to learn, not try to outsmart the maintainer., the developer explained.
The only exception is for fixes to genuine security bugs. Such a patch is allowed to be submitted, but the author is required to test it on the actual hardware for which the driver is intended and provide a detailed description of the testing performed. Furthermore, the submitter must be able to prove that the bug is indeed reproducible and likely to affect the user. According to Kroah-Hartman, "at least a third" of problems discovered by modern LLMs turn out to be wrong or lead to harmful changes.
Kroah-Hartman himself compared drivers/staging with "a gym where you can learn and develop your skills"Language models, he said, are gradually becoming a suitable tool for "heavy lifting," but they should be used by specialists who already have sufficient knowledge to evaluate the results. Therefore, the decision does not impose a general ban on the use of AI in development. Linux: the new rule only applies to the Kroah-Hartman-maintained drivers/staging tree and primarily to automatically generated cosmetic fixes.
Source: linux.org.ru
