diff mbox series

Documentation/llvm: refresh docs

Message ID 20230824-docs-v1-1-67e061278b8f@google.com (mailing list archive)
State Superseded
Headers show
Series Documentation/llvm: refresh docs | expand

Checks

Context Check Description
conchuod/cover_letter success Single patches do not need cover letters
conchuod/tree_selection success Guessed tree name to be for-next at HEAD 9f944d2e0ab3
conchuod/fixes_present success Fixes tag not required for -next series
conchuod/maintainers_pattern success MAINTAINERS pattern errors before the patch: 4 and now 4
conchuod/verify_signedoff fail author Signed-off-by missing
conchuod/kdoc success Errors and warnings before: 0 this patch: 0
conchuod/build_rv64_clang_allmodconfig success Errors and warnings before: 9 this patch: 9
conchuod/module_param success Was 0 now: 0
conchuod/build_rv64_gcc_allmodconfig success Errors and warnings before: 9 this patch: 9
conchuod/build_rv32_defconfig success Build OK
conchuod/dtb_warn_rv64 success Errors and warnings before: 12 this patch: 12
conchuod/header_inline success No static functions without inline keyword in header files
conchuod/checkpatch success total: 0 errors, 0 warnings, 0 checks, 159 lines checked
conchuod/build_rv64_nommu_k210_defconfig success Build OK
conchuod/verify_fixes success No Fixes tag
conchuod/build_rv64_nommu_virt_defconfig success Build OK

Commit Message

Nick Desaulniers Aug. 24, 2023, 6:03 p.m. UTC
Recent fixes for an embargoed hardware security vulnerability failed to
link with ld.lld (LLVM's linker).  [0]  To be fair, our documentation
mentions ``CC=clang`` foremost with ``LLVM=1`` being buried "below the
fold."

We want to encourage the use of ``LLVM=1`` rather than just
``CC=clang``. Make that sugguestion "above the fold" and "front and
center" in our docs.

While here, the following additional changes were made:
- remove the bit about CROSS_COMPILE setting --target=, that's no longer
  true.
- Add ARCH=loongarch to the list of maintained targets (though we're
  still working on getting defconfig building cleanly at the moment;
  we're pretty close).
- Promote ARCH=riscv from being Maintained to being Supported. Android
  is working towards supporting RISC-V, and we have excellent support
  from multiple companies in this regard.
- Note that the toolchain distribution on kernel.org has been built with
  profile data from kernel builds.

Link: https://github.com/ClangBuiltLinux/linux/issues/1907 [0]
---


Signed-off-by: Nick Desaulniers <ndesaulniers@google.com>
---
 Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst | 102 +++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------
 1 file changed, 55 insertions(+), 47 deletions(-)


---
base-commit: 93f5de5f648d2b1ce3540a4ac71756d4a852dc23
change-id: 20230824-docs-c17a5de7f103

Best regards,

Comments

Nathan Chancellor Aug. 24, 2023, 6:49 p.m. UTC | #1
On Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 11:03:17AM -0700, ndesaulniers@google.com wrote:
> Recent fixes for an embargoed hardware security vulnerability failed to
> link with ld.lld (LLVM's linker).  [0]  To be fair, our documentation
> mentions ``CC=clang`` foremost with ``LLVM=1`` being buried "below the
> fold."
> 
> We want to encourage the use of ``LLVM=1`` rather than just
> ``CC=clang``. Make that sugguestion "above the fold" and "front and
> center" in our docs.
> 
> While here, the following additional changes were made:
> - remove the bit about CROSS_COMPILE setting --target=, that's no longer
>   true.
> - Add ARCH=loongarch to the list of maintained targets (though we're
>   still working on getting defconfig building cleanly at the moment;
>   we're pretty close).
> - Promote ARCH=riscv from being Maintained to being Supported. Android
>   is working towards supporting RISC-V, and we have excellent support
>   from multiple companies in this regard.
> - Note that the toolchain distribution on kernel.org has been built with
>   profile data from kernel builds.
> 
> Link: https://github.com/ClangBuiltLinux/linux/issues/1907 [0]
> ---
> 
> 
> Signed-off-by: Nick Desaulniers <ndesaulniers@google.com>

Nit: Your signed-off-by ended up below the fold, was it in your cover
letter commit rather than your actual commit?

Aside from the relatively minor comments below, this looks like a really
good improvement to the documentation to me. It feels like it is more
targeting users or non-kbuild folks now, which I think is great.

I trust you to address my comments as you see fit, so please carry
forward:

Reviewed-by: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org>

> ---
>  Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst | 102 +++++++++++++++++++++++-------------------
>  1 file changed, 55 insertions(+), 47 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst b/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst
> index c3851fe1900d..00b26a0a6bf1 100644
> --- a/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst
> @@ -25,50 +25,38 @@ objects <https://www.aosabook.org/en/llvm.html>`_. Clang is a front-end to LLVM
>  that supports C and the GNU C extensions required by the kernel, and is
>  pronounced "klang," not "see-lang."
>  
> -Clang
> ------
> -
> -The compiler used can be swapped out via ``CC=`` command line argument to ``make``.
> -``CC=`` should be set when selecting a config and during a build. ::
> -
> -	make CC=clang defconfig
> +Building with LLVM
> +------------------
>  
> -	make CC=clang
> -
> -Cross Compiling
> ----------------
> +Invoke ``make`` via::
>  
> -A single Clang compiler binary will typically contain all supported backends,
> -which can help simplify cross compiling. ::
> -
> -	make ARCH=arm64 CC=clang CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
> +	make LLVM=1
>  
> -``CROSS_COMPILE`` is not used to prefix the Clang compiler binary, instead
> -``CROSS_COMPILE`` is used to set a command line flag: ``--target=<triple>``. For
> -example: ::
> +to compile for the host target. For cross compiling::
>  
> -	clang --target=aarch64-linux-gnu foo.c
> +	make LLVM=1 ARCH=arm64
>  
> -LLVM Utilities
> +The LLVM= argument
>  --------------

I see a few new kernel-doc warnings from not adjusting the underlines to
match the new length of the title:

  Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:40: WARNING: Title underline too short.

  The LLVM= argument
  --------------
  Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:40: WARNING: Title underline too short.

  The LLVM= argument
  --------------
  Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:102: WARNING: Title underline too short.

  The LLVM_IAS= argument
  -----------------
  Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:102: WARNING: Title underline too short.

  The LLVM_IAS= argument
  -----------------

>  
> -LLVM has substitutes for GNU binutils utilities. They can be enabled individually.
> -The full list of supported make variables::
> +LLVM has substitutes for GNU binutils utilities. They can be enabled
> +individually. The full list of supported make variables::
>  
>  	make CC=clang LD=ld.lld AR=llvm-ar NM=llvm-nm STRIP=llvm-strip \
>  	  OBJCOPY=llvm-objcopy OBJDUMP=llvm-objdump READELF=llvm-readelf \
>  	  HOSTCC=clang HOSTCXX=clang++ HOSTAR=llvm-ar HOSTLD=ld.lld
>  
> -To simplify the above command, Kbuild supports the ``LLVM`` variable::
> -
> -	make LLVM=1
> +``LLVM=1`` expands to the above.
>  
>  If your LLVM tools are not available in your PATH, you can supply their
>  location using the LLVM variable with a trailing slash::
>  
>  	make LLVM=/path/to/llvm/
>  
> -which will use ``/path/to/llvm/clang``, ``/path/to/llvm/ld.lld``, etc.
> +which will use ``/path/to/llvm/clang``, ``/path/to/llvm/ld.lld``, etc. The
> +following may also be used::
> +
> +	PATH=/path/to/llvm:$PATH make LLVM=1
>  
>  If your LLVM tools have a version suffix and you want to test with that
>  explicit version rather than the unsuffixed executables like ``LLVM=1``, you
> @@ -78,31 +66,46 @@ can pass the suffix using the ``LLVM`` variable::
>  
>  which will use ``clang-14``, ``ld.lld-14``, etc.
>  
> -``LLVM=0`` is not the same as omitting ``LLVM`` altogether, it will behave like
> -``LLVM=1``. If you only wish to use certain LLVM utilities, use their respective
> -make variables.
> +To support combinations of out of tree paths with version suffixes, we
> +recommend::
> +
> +	PATH=/path/to/llvm/:$PATH make LLVM=-14
>  
> -The integrated assembler is enabled by default. You can pass ``LLVM_IAS=0`` to
> -disable it.
> +``LLVM=0`` is not the same as omitting ``LLVM`` altogether, it will behave like
> +``LLVM=1``. If you only wish to use certain LLVM utilities, use their
> +respective make variables.
>  
> -Omitting CROSS_COMPILE
> -----------------------
> +The same value used for ``LLVM=`` should be set for each invocation of ``make``
> +if configuring and building via distinct commands. ``LLVM=`` should also be set
> +as an environment variable when running scripts that will eventually run
> +``make``.
>  
> -As explained above, ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is used to set ``--target=<triple>``.
> +Cross Compiling
> +---------------
>  
> -If ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is not specified, the ``--target=<triple>`` is inferred
> -from ``ARCH``.
> +A single Clang compiler binary (and corresponding LLVM utilities) will
> +typically contain all supported backends, which can help simplify cross
> +compiling especially when ``LLVM=1`` is used. If you use only LLVM tools,
> +``CROSS_COMPILE`` becomes unnecessary.
>  
> -That means if you use only LLVM tools, ``CROSS_COMPILE`` becomes unnecessary.
> +As an example, for a target like ``ARCH=s390`` which does not yet have
> +``ld.lld`` support, you could invoke ``make`` via::
>  
> -For example, to cross-compile the arm64 kernel::
> +	make LLVM=1 LD=ld.bfd CROSS_COMPILE=s390x-linux-gnu-

This should probably have ARCH=s390?

> -	make ARCH=arm64 LLVM=1
> +``CROSS_COMPILE`` is not used to prefix the Clang compiler binary (or
> +corresponding LLVM utilities), but it will be for any GNU toolchain utilities.
> +This example will invoke ``s390x-linux-gnu-ld.bfd`` as the linker, so ensure
> +that is reachable in your ``$PATH``.

I like the example as I feel like it addresses some of the fear I have had
around recommending LLVM=1 as the initial build suggestion but 'LLVM=1
LD=ld.bfd CROSS_COMPILE=s390x-linux-gnu-' does not compose as you describe here
because $(LD) is not prefixed with $(CROSS_COMPILE) anywhere in Makefile. The
non-$(LLVM) default assignment of $(LD) is '$(CROSS_COMPILE)ld' and that is
overridden by 'LD=ld.bfd' on the command line.

In other words, this should be

  make ARCH=s390 LLVM=1 LD=s390x-linux-gnu-ld.bfd

and have the note about CROSS_COMPILE prefixing any GNU toolchain utilities
removed. It should problably have OBJCOPY and OBJDUMP too, as those are
required due to https://github.com/ClangBuiltLinux/linux/issues/859 and
https://github.com/ClangBuiltLinux/linux/issues/1530.

> -If ``LLVM_IAS=0`` is specified, ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is also used to derive
> -``--prefix=<path>`` to search for the GNU assembler and linker. ::
> +The LLVM_IAS= argument
> +-----------------
>  
> -	make ARCH=arm64 LLVM=1 LLVM_IAS=0 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
> +Clang can assemble assembler code. You can pass ``LLVM_IAS=0`` to disable this
> +behavior and have Clang invoke the system assembler instead (or the assembler
> +based on ``CROSS_COMPILE``). ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is necessary when ``LLVM_IAS=0``
> +is set when cross compiling in order to set ``--prefix=`` for the compiler to
> +find the corresponding non-integrated assembler.

Thanks a lot for documenting this behavior, it is one of the most common
issues I run into myself (adding LLVM_IAS=0 without CROSS_COMPILE) and
maybe this note will be what I need in order to remember :)

>  Supported Architectures
>  -----------------------
> @@ -135,14 +138,17 @@ yet. Bug reports are always welcome at the issue tracker below!
>     * - hexagon
>       - Maintained
>       - ``LLVM=1``
> +   * - loongarch
> +     - Maintained
> +     - ``LLVM=1``
>     * - mips
>       - Maintained
>       - ``LLVM=1``
>     * - powerpc
>       - Maintained
> -     - ``CC=clang``
> +     - ``LLVM=1``
>     * - riscv
> -     - Maintained
> +     - Supported
>       - ``LLVM=1``
>     * - s390
>       - Maintained
> @@ -171,9 +177,11 @@ Getting Help
>  Getting LLVM
>  -------------
>  
> -We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org <https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_.
> -Below are links that may be useful for building LLVM from source or procuring
> -it through a distribution's package manager.
> +We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org
> +<https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_. These have been optimized with profile
> +data for building Linux kernels. Below are links that may be useful for

Maybe make a note of why this matters? ", which should lower kernel
build times compared to non-optimized LLVM toolchains."?

Cheers,
Nathan
Nick Desaulniers Aug. 24, 2023, 8:32 p.m. UTC | #2
On Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 11:49 AM Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 11:03:17AM -0700, ndesaulniers@google.com wrote:
> > Link: https://github.com/ClangBuiltLinux/linux/issues/1907 [0]
> > ---
> >
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Nick Desaulniers <ndesaulniers@google.com>
>
> Nit: Your signed-off-by ended up below the fold, was it in your cover
> letter commit rather than your actual commit?

Heh, no. I'm restoring a machine after suffering drive corruption last
week. I just got patatt and friends re-set up, but I forgot to `git
commit --amend -s` for this patch once everything was working again.
Thanks for catching this!

>
> Aside from the relatively minor comments below, this looks like a really
> good improvement to the documentation to me. It feels like it is more
> targeting users or non-kbuild folks now, which I think is great.
>
> I trust you to address my comments as you see fit, so please carry
> forward:
>
> Reviewed-by: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org>

Thanks for the review!

> I see a few new kernel-doc warnings from not adjusting the underlines to
> match the new length of the title:
>
>   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:40: WARNING: Title underline too short.
>
>   The LLVM= argument
>   --------------
>   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:40: WARNING: Title underline too short.
>
>   The LLVM= argument
>   --------------
>   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:102: WARNING: Title underline too short.
>
>   The LLVM_IAS= argument
>   -----------------
>   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:102: WARNING: Title underline too short.
>
>   The LLVM_IAS= argument
>   -----------------

oops! remind me of the make target to observe these?

> > -For example, to cross-compile the arm64 kernel::
> > +     make LLVM=1 LD=ld.bfd CROSS_COMPILE=s390x-linux-gnu-
>
> This should probably have ARCH=s390?

Oops! Good catch!

>
> > -     make ARCH=arm64 LLVM=1
> > +``CROSS_COMPILE`` is not used to prefix the Clang compiler binary (or
> > +corresponding LLVM utilities), but it will be for any GNU toolchain utilities.
> > +This example will invoke ``s390x-linux-gnu-ld.bfd`` as the linker, so ensure
> > +that is reachable in your ``$PATH``.
>
> I like the example as I feel like it addresses some of the fear I have had
> around recommending LLVM=1 as the initial build suggestion but 'LLVM=1
> LD=ld.bfd CROSS_COMPILE=s390x-linux-gnu-' does not compose as you describe here
> because $(LD) is not prefixed with $(CROSS_COMPILE) anywhere in Makefile. The
> non-$(LLVM) default assignment of $(LD) is '$(CROSS_COMPILE)ld' and that is
> overridden by 'LD=ld.bfd' on the command line.
>
> In other words, this should be
>
>   make ARCH=s390 LLVM=1 LD=s390x-linux-gnu-ld.bfd
>
> and have the note about CROSS_COMPILE prefixing any GNU toolchain utilities
> removed. It should problably have OBJCOPY and OBJDUMP too, as those are
> required due to https://github.com/ClangBuiltLinux/linux/issues/859 and
> https://github.com/ClangBuiltLinux/linux/issues/1530.

Ah right; I'm no longer able to repro the build failure with OBJDUMP,
though I still see warnings.

I kind of feel like we should bring back CROSS_COMPILE in some form;
having to respecify the triple is still sub-optimal.

i.e. today:
$ make LLVM=1 ARCH=s390 LD=s390x-linux-gnu-ld.bfd
OBJCOPY=s390x-linux-gnu-objcopy OBJDUMP=s390x-linux-gnu-objdump

vs

$ make LLVM=1 ARCH=s390 CROSS_COMPILE=s390x-linux-gnu- LD=ld.bfd
OBJCOPY=objcopy OBJDUMP=objdump

but perhaps that's a change for another day.

>
> > -If ``LLVM_IAS=0`` is specified, ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is also used to derive
> > -``--prefix=<path>`` to search for the GNU assembler and linker. ::
> > +The LLVM_IAS= argument
> > +-----------------
> >
> > -     make ARCH=arm64 LLVM=1 LLVM_IAS=0 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
> > +Clang can assemble assembler code. You can pass ``LLVM_IAS=0`` to disable this
> > +behavior and have Clang invoke the system assembler instead (or the assembler
> > +based on ``CROSS_COMPILE``). ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is necessary when ``LLVM_IAS=0``
> > +is set when cross compiling in order to set ``--prefix=`` for the compiler to
> > +find the corresponding non-integrated assembler.
>
> Thanks a lot for documenting this behavior, it is one of the most common
> issues I run into myself (adding LLVM_IAS=0 without CROSS_COMPILE) and
> maybe this note will be what I need in order to remember :)

Ah right, I'll make that clearer.

> >
> > -We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org <https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_.
> > -Below are links that may be useful for building LLVM from source or procuring
> > -it through a distribution's package manager.
> > +We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org
> > +<https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_. These have been optimized with profile
> > +data for building Linux kernels. Below are links that may be useful for
>
> Maybe make a note of why this matters? ", which should lower kernel
> build times compared to non-optimized LLVM toolchains."?

Ack
Nick Desaulniers Aug. 24, 2023, 8:55 p.m. UTC | #3
On Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 11:49 AM Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 11:03:17AM -0700, ndesaulniers@google.com wrote:
> > -We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org <https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_.
> > -Below are links that may be useful for building LLVM from source or procuring
> > -it through a distribution's package manager.
> > +We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org
> > +<https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_. These have been optimized with profile
> > +data for building Linux kernels. Below are links that may be useful for
>
> Maybe make a note of why this matters? ", which should lower kernel
> build times compared to non-optimized LLVM toolchains."?

Oh, I forgot to address this in v2. Will send a v3.
Nick Desaulniers Aug. 24, 2023, 9:12 p.m. UTC | #4
On Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 1:32 PM Nick Desaulniers
<ndesaulniers@google.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 11:49 AM Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org> wrote:
> >
>
> > I see a few new kernel-doc warnings from not adjusting the underlines to
> > match the new length of the title:
> >
> >   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:40: WARNING: Title underline too short.
> >
> >   The LLVM= argument
> >   --------------
> >   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:40: WARNING: Title underline too short.
> >
> >   The LLVM= argument
> >   --------------
> >   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:102: WARNING: Title underline too short.
> >
> >   The LLVM_IAS= argument
> >   -----------------
> >   Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst:102: WARNING: Title underline too short.
> >
> >   The LLVM_IAS= argument
> >   -----------------
>
> oops! remind me of the make target to observe these?

Found it;
make htmldocs
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/doc-guide/sphinx.html
diff mbox series

Patch

diff --git a/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst b/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst
index c3851fe1900d..00b26a0a6bf1 100644
--- a/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst
+++ b/Documentation/kbuild/llvm.rst
@@ -25,50 +25,38 @@  objects <https://www.aosabook.org/en/llvm.html>`_. Clang is a front-end to LLVM
 that supports C and the GNU C extensions required by the kernel, and is
 pronounced "klang," not "see-lang."
 
-Clang
------
-
-The compiler used can be swapped out via ``CC=`` command line argument to ``make``.
-``CC=`` should be set when selecting a config and during a build. ::
-
-	make CC=clang defconfig
+Building with LLVM
+------------------
 
-	make CC=clang
-
-Cross Compiling
----------------
+Invoke ``make`` via::
 
-A single Clang compiler binary will typically contain all supported backends,
-which can help simplify cross compiling. ::
-
-	make ARCH=arm64 CC=clang CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
+	make LLVM=1
 
-``CROSS_COMPILE`` is not used to prefix the Clang compiler binary, instead
-``CROSS_COMPILE`` is used to set a command line flag: ``--target=<triple>``. For
-example: ::
+to compile for the host target. For cross compiling::
 
-	clang --target=aarch64-linux-gnu foo.c
+	make LLVM=1 ARCH=arm64
 
-LLVM Utilities
+The LLVM= argument
 --------------
 
-LLVM has substitutes for GNU binutils utilities. They can be enabled individually.
-The full list of supported make variables::
+LLVM has substitutes for GNU binutils utilities. They can be enabled
+individually. The full list of supported make variables::
 
 	make CC=clang LD=ld.lld AR=llvm-ar NM=llvm-nm STRIP=llvm-strip \
 	  OBJCOPY=llvm-objcopy OBJDUMP=llvm-objdump READELF=llvm-readelf \
 	  HOSTCC=clang HOSTCXX=clang++ HOSTAR=llvm-ar HOSTLD=ld.lld
 
-To simplify the above command, Kbuild supports the ``LLVM`` variable::
-
-	make LLVM=1
+``LLVM=1`` expands to the above.
 
 If your LLVM tools are not available in your PATH, you can supply their
 location using the LLVM variable with a trailing slash::
 
 	make LLVM=/path/to/llvm/
 
-which will use ``/path/to/llvm/clang``, ``/path/to/llvm/ld.lld``, etc.
+which will use ``/path/to/llvm/clang``, ``/path/to/llvm/ld.lld``, etc. The
+following may also be used::
+
+	PATH=/path/to/llvm:$PATH make LLVM=1
 
 If your LLVM tools have a version suffix and you want to test with that
 explicit version rather than the unsuffixed executables like ``LLVM=1``, you
@@ -78,31 +66,46 @@  can pass the suffix using the ``LLVM`` variable::
 
 which will use ``clang-14``, ``ld.lld-14``, etc.
 
-``LLVM=0`` is not the same as omitting ``LLVM`` altogether, it will behave like
-``LLVM=1``. If you only wish to use certain LLVM utilities, use their respective
-make variables.
+To support combinations of out of tree paths with version suffixes, we
+recommend::
+
+	PATH=/path/to/llvm/:$PATH make LLVM=-14
 
-The integrated assembler is enabled by default. You can pass ``LLVM_IAS=0`` to
-disable it.
+``LLVM=0`` is not the same as omitting ``LLVM`` altogether, it will behave like
+``LLVM=1``. If you only wish to use certain LLVM utilities, use their
+respective make variables.
 
-Omitting CROSS_COMPILE
-----------------------
+The same value used for ``LLVM=`` should be set for each invocation of ``make``
+if configuring and building via distinct commands. ``LLVM=`` should also be set
+as an environment variable when running scripts that will eventually run
+``make``.
 
-As explained above, ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is used to set ``--target=<triple>``.
+Cross Compiling
+---------------
 
-If ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is not specified, the ``--target=<triple>`` is inferred
-from ``ARCH``.
+A single Clang compiler binary (and corresponding LLVM utilities) will
+typically contain all supported backends, which can help simplify cross
+compiling especially when ``LLVM=1`` is used. If you use only LLVM tools,
+``CROSS_COMPILE`` becomes unnecessary.
 
-That means if you use only LLVM tools, ``CROSS_COMPILE`` becomes unnecessary.
+As an example, for a target like ``ARCH=s390`` which does not yet have
+``ld.lld`` support, you could invoke ``make`` via::
 
-For example, to cross-compile the arm64 kernel::
+	make LLVM=1 LD=ld.bfd CROSS_COMPILE=s390x-linux-gnu-
 
-	make ARCH=arm64 LLVM=1
+``CROSS_COMPILE`` is not used to prefix the Clang compiler binary (or
+corresponding LLVM utilities), but it will be for any GNU toolchain utilities.
+This example will invoke ``s390x-linux-gnu-ld.bfd`` as the linker, so ensure
+that is reachable in your ``$PATH``.
 
-If ``LLVM_IAS=0`` is specified, ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is also used to derive
-``--prefix=<path>`` to search for the GNU assembler and linker. ::
+The LLVM_IAS= argument
+-----------------
 
-	make ARCH=arm64 LLVM=1 LLVM_IAS=0 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu-
+Clang can assemble assembler code. You can pass ``LLVM_IAS=0`` to disable this
+behavior and have Clang invoke the system assembler instead (or the assembler
+based on ``CROSS_COMPILE``). ``CROSS_COMPILE`` is necessary when ``LLVM_IAS=0``
+is set when cross compiling in order to set ``--prefix=`` for the compiler to
+find the corresponding non-integrated assembler.
 
 Supported Architectures
 -----------------------
@@ -135,14 +138,17 @@  yet. Bug reports are always welcome at the issue tracker below!
    * - hexagon
      - Maintained
      - ``LLVM=1``
+   * - loongarch
+     - Maintained
+     - ``LLVM=1``
    * - mips
      - Maintained
      - ``LLVM=1``
    * - powerpc
      - Maintained
-     - ``CC=clang``
+     - ``LLVM=1``
    * - riscv
-     - Maintained
+     - Supported
      - ``LLVM=1``
    * - s390
      - Maintained
@@ -171,9 +177,11 @@  Getting Help
 Getting LLVM
 -------------
 
-We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org <https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_.
-Below are links that may be useful for building LLVM from source or procuring
-it through a distribution's package manager.
+We provide prebuilt stable versions of LLVM on `kernel.org
+<https://kernel.org/pub/tools/llvm/>`_. These have been optimized with profile
+data for building Linux kernels. Below are links that may be useful for
+building LLVM from source or procuring it through a distribution's package
+manager.
 
 - https://releases.llvm.org/download.html
 - https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project