kernel development cycle

[Tobin C. Harding]

Hi,

Would someone please be able to expound on the stages of the kernel
development cycle.

In particular I would like to learn what a hobbyist kernel developer
should be focusing their attention on during different stages of the
cycle. In particular, what _not_ to do during certain stages of the
cycle.

Jonathan Corbet has mentioned that he is happy to take documentation
patches during the merge window. Are other sub-systems open to patches
during the merge window? My guess is not.

Should one be focusing effort on bug fixing only (as opposed to new
features) during rc1 and rc2?

What about coverity fixes, are these most appreciated during early
release candidates or are they better done against linux-next during
later release candidates (so the bugs don't get into the mainline in the
first place)?

When are new feature patches best submitted?

Or is all this not answerable because each maintainer/subsystem is
different?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,
Tobin.