Linus Torvalds accepted the Linux kernel change, which aims to regulate the actions of the community in case of unforeseen circumstances in which the trusted representatives are unable to accept changes to the primary repository “torvalds/linux.git“. The plan was developed by Dan Williams (Dan Williams) of Intel, who is responsible for maintaining 9 subsystems in the Linux kernel and currently holds the position of chairman of the Linux Foundation Technical Committee. The proposal is based on the outcomes of the discussion on vulnerabilities in the kernel development process that took place during the “Maintainers Summit 2025” conference.
Despite the distributed nature of kernel development, involving more than 100 maintainers working on changes in their respective repositories, the final changes for the main kernel branch are centralized through the Linus repository (torvalds/linux.git). In addition to Linus, there are several trusted individuals authorized to make changes to the main repository, reducing the risk of it being a single point of failure.
In 2018, the project had to rely on Greg Croah-Hartman to prepare the release of the 4.18 kernel, as Linus Torvalds had temporarily stepped back from development to reevaluate his role in the community and work on emotional intelligence. When Linus eventually decides to retire, plans are in place for a smooth transition to a successor. However, until now, there hasn’t been a clear action plan for unforeseen circumstances involving the main repository maintainers.
Under the new plans, in case of such situations, a designated organizer will be responsible for swiftly transitioning the development process to a new repository and appointing a new main maintainer. This responsibility falls on the individual organizing the last Linux kernel maintainer summit