Subject: Re: [GIT PULL] Networking for v7.0-rc3

From: Jakub Kicinski <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2026 09:23:48 -0800

On Thu,  5 Mar 2026 09:10:04 -0800 Jakub Kicinski wrote:
> A few PRs here narrowly missed the previous rc, but I'm not sure
> if that explains why this PR is almost 2x the usual size.
> I had a feeling that AI tools are helping people investigate
> and send fixes for issues which would previously be waved off
> as one-off / not worth the time. But the data doesn't necessarily
> bear that out.

FWIW when I say data this is supposedly breakdown of how many people
who contributed fixes to networking have only been known to git for
3, 6 or 12 months:

Commits     Date        Avg Age     Med Age   <3mo   <3mo%   <6mo   <6mo%  <12mo   <12m%
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    100  2024-09-04       9.9yr      10.5yr     10   10.0%     13   13.0%     15   15.0%
    100  2024-10-01       8.5yr       8.1yr      5    5.0%      5    5.0%     10   10.0%
    100  2024-10-13       9.2yr       9.2yr     11   11.0%     11   11.0%     18   18.0%
    100  2024-10-24       7.5yr       5.8yr      5    5.0%      6    6.0%     15   15.0%
    100  2024-11-06       7.1yr       5.7yr     18   18.0%     18   18.0%     21   21.0%
    100  2024-11-22       8.4yr       7.3yr      8    8.0%     10   10.0%     10   10.0%
    100  2024-12-08       9.4yr      10.5yr      4    4.0%      9    9.0%      9    9.0%
    100  2024-12-20       7.1yr       5.1yr      9    9.0%     12   12.0%     28   28.0%
    100  2025-01-10       8.5yr       7.7yr      8    8.0%      8    8.0%     12   12.0%
    100  2025-01-26      10.9yr      12.9yr      5    5.0%      7    7.0%      9    9.0%
    100  2025-02-07       9.7yr       9.6yr      7    7.0%      9    9.0%     10   10.0%
    100  2025-02-24       8.1yr       7.4yr      7    7.0%     12   12.0%     13   13.0%
    100  2025-03-07       8.2yr       6.9yr      6    6.0%      7    7.0%     10   10.0%
    100  2025-03-24      10.4yr      13.1yr      7    7.0%      8    8.0%      8    8.0%
    100  2025-04-07       8.1yr       6.9yr     10   10.0%     13   13.0%     15   15.0%
    100  2025-04-18       7.3yr       6.1yr     14   14.0%     19   19.0%     22   22.0%
    100  2025-04-30       9.3yr      10.1yr      6    6.0%      9    9.0%     12   12.0%
    100  2025-05-14       7.7yr       6.5yr      8    8.0%     10   10.0%     14   14.0%
    100  2025-06-02       9.3yr       9.8yr      5    5.0%      6    6.0%      9    9.0%
    100  2025-06-11       9.8yr       6.8yr      8    8.0%      8    8.0%     10   10.0%
    100  2025-06-24       9.0yr       6.9yr      9    9.0%     10   10.0%     13   13.0%
    100  2025-06-12       8.8yr       7.1yr     11   11.0%     13   13.0%     15   15.0%
    100  2025-07-17      10.3yr      11.4yr      7    7.0%      8    8.0%     19   19.0%
    100  2025-08-06       8.3yr       7.8yr      5    5.0%      6    6.0%      8    8.0%
    100  2025-08-19       7.6yr       6.4yr     10   10.0%     12   12.0%     20   20.0%
    100  2025-08-18      10.2yr      10.1yr      2    2.0%      3    3.0%      6    6.0%
    100  2025-09-08       9.7yr       9.9yr      7    7.0%      9    9.0%     13   13.0%
    100  2025-08-13       8.1yr       7.4yr     17   17.0%     19   19.0%     22   22.0%
    100  2025-10-09       9.1yr       9.3yr     12   12.0%     16   16.0%     17   17.0%
    100  2025-11-05       7.5yr       5.9yr     12   12.0%     16   16.0%     19   19.0%
    100  2025-11-18       8.7yr      10.2yr     12   12.0%     18   18.0%     19   19.0%
    100  2025-12-09       9.2yr       8.4yr     12   12.0%     13   13.0%     18   18.0%
    100  2025-12-21       8.5yr       7.6yr     20   20.0%     21   21.0%     26   26.0%
    100  2026-01-09       9.8yr       8.3yr      8    8.0%      9    9.0%     13   13.0%
    100  2026-01-12       6.9yr       5.7yr     14   14.0%     17   17.0%     24   24.0%
     95  2026-02-27      10.0yr      10.4yr     11   11.6%     11   11.6%     11   11.6%

We have a sequence of high percentages since ~Nov but not in a crazy
way.

The numbers looking at just "core parts" (net/core net/ipv4
net/ipv6 net/sched) would support the theory a little more 
but again not very strongly and the numbers are small in absolute
terms:

Commits     Date        Avg Age     Med Age   <3mo   <3mo%   <6mo   <6mo%  <12mo   <12m%
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     24  2024-09-11      13.7yr      14.7yr      0    0.0%      0    0.0%      0    0.0%
     24  2024-10-15       9.4yr       9.1yr      1    4.2%      1    4.2%      1    4.2%
     24  2024-11-28       9.4yr       9.2yr      4   16.7%      4   16.7%      4   16.7%
     24  2024-12-19      11.5yr      12.9yr      1    4.2%      1    4.2%      2    8.3%
     24  2025-01-27      16.0yr      19.6yr      0    0.0%      0    0.0%      0    0.0%
     24  2025-02-07      10.7yr      13.0yr      1    4.2%      1    4.2%      2    8.3%
     24  2025-02-25       7.8yr       5.3yr      1    4.2%      1    4.2%      1    4.2%
     24  2025-03-28      10.8yr      13.1yr      1    4.2%      1    4.2%      1    4.2%
     24  2025-04-03      10.3yr      13.1yr      0    0.0%      0    0.0%      0    0.0%
     24  2025-04-26       9.6yr      11.2yr      2    8.3%      2    8.3%      3   12.5%
     24  2025-06-04      11.8yr      13.3yr      1    4.2%      1    4.2%      3   12.5%
     24  2025-07-09      10.7yr      12.4yr      3   12.5%      3   12.5%      5   20.8%
     24  2025-08-08       9.4yr      11.4yr      2    8.3%      3   12.5%      3   12.5%
     24  2025-09-10      11.1yr      13.6yr      2    8.3%      4   16.7%      5   20.8%
     24  2025-10-28      10.9yr      13.8yr      3   12.5%      5   20.8%      5   20.8%
     24  2026-01-05      14.5yr      20.5yr      0    0.0%      0    0.0%      2    8.3%
     20  2026-02-23       9.1yr       7.2yr      4   20.0%      4   20.0%      4   20.0%