Kernel tool will stop CCing LKML on nearly every patch

The script that tells Linux contributors whom to mail is set to stop adding linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org to every patch. Konstantin Ryabitsev of the Linux Foundation has posted changes so the catch-all MAINTAINERS entry known as THE REST is used only when no subsystem list would otherwise receive the mail.

That entry matches the entire tree, so the helper has long appended LKML alongside subsystem lists. In the first week of October 2026 the list carried 13,641 messages, about 1,950 a day; roughly 90 percent were already going to at least one other list. With some 2,100 subscribers, that meant on the order of 29 million deliveries a week for LKML alone.

The volume came up at the 2026 Maintainer Summit. Ryabitsev said the old “always include LKML” habit was never the intended design and is no longer sustainable given today’s patch rate, bots, and follow-ups. He has even floated blocking common free-mail subscribers if the firehose continues. The companion documentation update drops the advice to send every patch to LKML and instead calls it a list of last resort when no subsystem list exists. Orphaned or unlist-covered files still fall back to LKML, so public archival coverage remains.

Joe Perches, long associated with the helper, noted that always-on LKML was once documented practice, but said things change and told Ryabitsev to apply the work. A broader catch-all list for people who still want every patch is left as a separate discussion. Translated submitting-patches guides will need matching updates once the English text settles.