linux-drivers/
drivers/gpu/drm

Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) graphics subsystem

The umbrella directory for the kernel's Direct Rendering Manager, which is the shared graphics and display framework that sits underneath every modern GPU driver on Linux. It hosts the common code, helpers, and headers that individual GPU drivers (Intel, AMD, Nouveau, etc.) build on top of.

not-a-driver conf=1.00 deploy=none replacement=none subsystem=gpu category=not-a-driver
100%

recommendation

This is not a single hardware driver but the top-level home of the entire DRM graphics subsystem, including its core infrastructure and dozens of child directories for individual GPU and display drivers. Any keep-or-remove judgement has to be made one driver at a time inside its subdirectories, not at this level.

repository signals

7,753 files
7,908,685 source lines
45,182 commits, 5y
+4,469,059 / −941,093 lines added / removed, 5y
2,078 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 45,182 total · active in 61/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 478 commits · +16,114 −6,019 2021-05: 711 commits · +42,786 −14,642 2021-06: 690 commits · +41,274 −27,100 2021-07: 823 commits · +33,218 −19,929 2021-08: 561 commits · +207,579 −15,569 2021-09: 736 commits · +58,613 −11,244 2021-10: 713 commits · +25,272 −18,233 2021-11: 647 commits · +30,171 −13,184 2021-12: 596 commits · +191,525 −10,412 2022-01: 692 commits · +451,717 −17,444 2022-02: 816 commits · +101,756 −19,798 2022-03: 766 commits · +25,297 −13,747 2022-04: 810 commits · +460,235 −21,430 2022-05: 676 commits · +84,733 −10,231 2022-06: 889 commits · +259,813 −36,238 2022-07: 690 commits · +36,753 −25,592 2022-08: 659 commits · +17,477 −15,811 2022-09: 859 commits · +29,382 −16,139 2022-10: 718 commits · +19,108 −12,764 2022-11: 790 commits · +18,407 −8,741 2022-12: 504 commits · +22,455 −32,683 2023-01: 837 commits · +28,836 −19,692 2023-02: 608 commits · +22,285 −13,943 2023-03: 1015 commits · +97,079 −17,032 2023-04: 700 commits · +33,951 −12,366 2023-05: 827 commits · +33,602 −13,873 2023-06: 723 commits · +25,448 −7,155 2023-07: 763 commits · +295,075 −14,903 2023-08: 890 commits · +117,244 −11,552 2023-09: 829 commits · +36,435 −11,347 2023-10: 838 commits · +24,939 −16,123 2023-11: 767 commits · +58,816 −16,087 2023-12: 804 commits · +45,313 −9,691 2024-01: 806 commits · +27,194 −11,284 2024-02: 750 commits · +107,623 −9,085 2024-03: 788 commits · +180,132 −8,643 2024-04: 1139 commits · +118,054 −56,279 2024-05: 1110 commits · +35,976 −21,328 2024-06: 916 commits · +31,776 −13,757 2024-07: 790 commits · +26,407 −19,552 2024-08: 716 commits · +29,647 −12,818 2024-09: 908 commits · +22,046 −16,824 2024-10: 866 commits · +35,983 −15,342 2024-11: 623 commits · +31,697 −18,352 2024-12: 650 commits · +20,636 −10,065 2025-01: 599 commits · +103,357 −22,486 2025-02: 1004 commits · +50,828 −19,725 2025-03: 889 commits · +45,367 −20,527 2025-04: 779 commits · +28,052 −11,663 2025-05: 833 commits · +25,016 −14,963 2025-06: 718 commits · +28,014 −15,050 2025-07: 726 commits · +22,797 −13,193 2025-08: 734 commits · +84,919 −12,867 2025-09: 846 commits · +32,313 −10,992 2025-10: 865 commits · +31,608 −11,939 2025-11: 871 commits · +38,164 −15,635 2025-12: 714 commits · +38,562 −10,921 2026-01: 455 commits · +11,127 −5,678 2026-02: 137 commits · +6,656 −6,576 2026-03: 109 commits · +1,830 −448 2026-04: 4 commits · +22 −11

sources

No sources cited.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Not a driver directory: top-level DRM subsystem/core umbrella containing shared infrastructure and many child GPU/display drivers, not one kernel-bound hardware driver.