Jakub Kicinski says: ==================== docs: netdev: document more of our rules The patch series length limit and reverse xmas tree are not documented. Add those, and a tl;dr section summarizing how we differ. v2: improve the series length blurb (Andrew) ====================
Unified · Split
| @@ -6,6 +6,15 @@ · 5 unmodified lines | ||
| 6 | 6 | netdev FAQ |
| 7 | 7 | ========== |
| 8 | 8 | |
| 9 | +tl;dr | |
| 10 | +----- | |
| 11 | + | |
| 12 | + - designate your patch to a tree - ``[PATCH net]`` or ``[PATCH net-next]`` | |
| 13 | + - for fixes the ``Fixes:`` tag is required, regardless of the tree | |
| 14 | + - don't post large series (> 15 patches), break them up | |
| 15 | + - don't repost your patches within one 24h period | |
| 16 | + - reverse xmas tree | |
| 17 | + | |
| 9 | 18 | What is netdev? |
| 10 | 19 | --------------- |
| 11 | 20 | It is a mailing list for all network-related Linux stuff. This |
| @@ -136,6 +145,20 @@ it to the maintainer to figure out what is the most recent and current · 124 unmodified lines | ||
| 136 | 145 | version that should be applied. If there is any doubt, the maintainer |
| 137 | 146 | will reply and ask what should be done. |
| 138 | 147 | |
| 148 | +How do I divide my work into patches? | |
| 149 | +------------------------------------- | |
| 150 | + | |
| 151 | +Put yourself in the shoes of the reviewer. Each patch is read separately | |
| 152 | +and therefore should constitute a comprehensible step towards your stated | |
| 153 | +goal. | |
| 154 | + | |
| 155 | +Avoid sending series longer than 15 patches. Larger series takes longer | |
| 156 | +to review as reviewers will defer looking at it until they find a large | |
| 157 | +chunk of time. A small series can be reviewed in a short time, so Maintainers | |
| 158 | +just do it. As a result, a sequence of smaller series gets merged quicker and | |
| 159 | +with better review coverage. Re-posting large series also increases the mailing | |
| 160 | +list traffic. | |
| 161 | + | |
| 139 | 162 | I made changes to only a few patches in a patch series should I resend only those changed? |
| 140 | 163 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 141 | 164 | No, please resend the entire patch series and make sure you do number your |
| @@ -183,6 +206,19 @@ it is requested that you make it look like this:: · 41 unmodified lines | ||
| 183 | 206 | * another line of text |
| 184 | 207 | */ |
| 185 | 208 | |
| 209 | +What is "reverse xmas tree"? | |
| 210 | +---------------------------- | |
| 211 | + | |
| 212 | +Netdev has a convention for ordering local variables in functions. | |
| 213 | +Order the variable declaration lines longest to shortest, e.g.:: | |
| 214 | + | |
| 215 | + struct scatterlist *sg; | |
| 216 | + struct sk_buff *skb; | |
| 217 | + int err, i; | |
| 218 | + | |
| 219 | +If there are dependencies between the variables preventing the ordering | |
| 220 | +move the initialization out of line. | |
| 221 | + | |
| 186 | 222 | I am working in existing code which uses non-standard formatting. Which formatting should I use? |
| 187 | 223 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 188 | 224 | Make your code follow the most recent guidelines, so that eventually all code |