Filename conventions

udev-hid-bpf uses this filename convention for all .bpf.o files it provides: 10-vendor__product.bpf.o. Vendor and product represent the specific device’s vendor and product and 10 is the version number.

Note

The versionless “stem” of the file, foo__bar.bpf is used as identifier by the kernel to spot duplicates.

Versioning files

We use a simple numeric versioning scheme for all bpf.o files: a prefix starting at 10 for the initial version, then going up to 20, 30 etc. for subsequent versions.

Future (higher) versions are for programs that use new kernel features. For example, we may have the same fix for a device:

  • 10-foo__bar.bpf.o using features available since kernel v6.6

  • 20-foo__bar.bpf.o using features available since kernel v6.8

  • 30-foo__bar.bpf.o using features available since kernel v6.11

The loader will attempt to load these in reverse order. On a system running a 6.8 kernel, i.e. it loads 30-foo__bar.bpf.o first, fails, then loads 20-foo__bar.bpf.o. This one succeeds so the loader won’t attempt to load 10-foo__bar.bpf.o.

This version scheme allows udev-hid-bpf to work against any kernel version it has worked against in the past, even as programs get updated to make use of new features.

Note that .bpf.o files merged into the kernel drop the version prefix as they will be bound to that particular version.

We use jumps by 10 for each version so that we can slot in another version in between if required in the future.

Vendor and Product naming guidelines

The vendor name should be the colloquial reference, e.g. HP, Microsoft, Logitech, Wacom, etc. without trademark symbol, Inc. suffix, etc.

Where the product has a technical model name it’s best to use the marketing name. Where the same name is used for multiple models, suffix the model name. And example would be 10-Wacom__Intuos-Pro2-CTH660.bpf.o. This makes the files easy to find by humans but stills specific enough that we can distinguish which device these apply to.

Note that these rules are just guidelines, there are .bpf.o files that will apply to multiple devices anyway so the naming will always be an approximation only.