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author | David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net> | 2009-06-15 03:02:23 -0700 |
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committer | David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net> | 2009-06-15 03:02:23 -0700 |
commit | 9cbc1cb8cd46ce1f7645b9de249b2ce8460129bb (patch) | |
tree | 8d104ec2a459346b99413b0b77421ca7b9936c1a /Documentation/development-process/5.Posting | |
parent | ca44d6e60f9de26281fda203f58b570e1748c015 (diff) | |
parent | 45e3e1935e2857c54783291107d33323b3ef33c8 (diff) | |
download | op-kernel-dev-9cbc1cb8cd46ce1f7645b9de249b2ce8460129bb.zip op-kernel-dev-9cbc1cb8cd46ce1f7645b9de249b2ce8460129bb.tar.gz |
Merge branch 'master' of master.kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6
Conflicts:
Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
drivers/scsi/fcoe/fcoe.c
net/core/drop_monitor.c
net/core/net-traces.c
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/development-process/5.Posting')
-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/development-process/5.Posting | 31 |
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/development-process/5.Posting b/Documentation/development-process/5.Posting index dd48132..f622c1e 100644 --- a/Documentation/development-process/5.Posting +++ b/Documentation/development-process/5.Posting @@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ which takes quite a bit of time and thought after the "real work" has been done. When done properly, though, it is time well spent. -5.4: PATCH FORMATTING +5.4: PATCH FORMATTING AND CHANGELOGS So now you have a perfect series of patches for posting, but the work is not done quite yet. Each patch needs to be formatted into a message which @@ -146,8 +146,33 @@ that end, each patch will be composed of the following: - One or more tag lines, with, at a minimum, one Signed-off-by: line from the author of the patch. Tags will be described in more detail below. -The above three items should, normally, be the text used when committing -the change to a revision control system. They are followed by: +The items above, together, form the changelog for the patch. Writing good +changelogs is a crucial but often-neglected art; it's worth spending +another moment discussing this issue. When writing a changelog, you should +bear in mind that a number of different people will be reading your words. +These include subsystem maintainers and reviewers who need to decide +whether the patch should be included, distributors and other maintainers +trying to decide whether a patch should be backported to other kernels, bug +hunters wondering whether the patch is responsible for a problem they are +chasing, users who want to know how the kernel has changed, and more. A +good changelog conveys the needed information to all of these people in the +most direct and concise way possible. + +To that end, the summary line should describe the effects of and motivation +for the change as well as possible given the one-line constraint. The +detailed description can then amplify on those topics and provide any +needed additional information. If the patch fixes a bug, cite the commit +which introduced the bug if possible. If a problem is associated with +specific log or compiler output, include that output to help others +searching for a solution to the same problem. If the change is meant to +support other changes coming in later patch, say so. If internal APIs are +changed, detail those changes and how other developers should respond. In +general, the more you can put yourself into the shoes of everybody who will +be reading your changelog, the better that changelog (and the kernel as a +whole) will be. + +Needless to say, the changelog should be the text used when committing the +change to a revision control system. It will be followed by: - The patch itself, in the unified ("-u") patch format. Using the "-p" option to diff will associate function names with changes, making the |