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| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/SubmittingPatches | 26 |
1 files changed, 25 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches index d91125ab6f49..0958e97d4bf4 100644 --- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches +++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches @@ -340,8 +340,32 @@ now, but you can do this to mark internal company procedures or just point out some special detail about the sign-off. +13) When to use Acked-by: -13) The canonical patch format +The Signed-off-by: tag indicates that the signer was involved in the +development of the patch, or that he/she was in the patch's delivery path. + +If a person was not directly involved in the preparation or handling of a +patch but wishes to signify and record their approval of it then they can +arrange to have an Acked-by: line added to the patch's changelog. + +Acked-by: is often used by the maintainer of the affected code when that +maintainer neither contributed to nor forwarded the patch. + +Acked-by: is not as formal as Signed-off-by:. It is a record that the acker +has at least reviewed the patch and has indicated acceptance. Hence patch +mergers will sometimes manually convert an acker's "yep, looks good to me" +into an Acked-by:. + +Acked-by: does not necessarily indicate acknowledgement of the entire patch. +For example, if a patch affects multiple subsystems and has an Acked-by: from +one subsystem maintainer then this usually indicates acknowledgement of just +the part which affects that maintainer's code. Judgement should be used here. + When in doubt people should refer to the original discussion in the mailing +list archives. + + +14) The canonical patch format The canonical patch subject line is: |
