The documentation for Co-developed-by is a bit light on details, e.g. it doesn't explicitly state that: - Multiple Co-developed-by tags are perfectly acceptable - Co-developed-by and Signed-off-by must be paired together - SOB ordering should still follow standard sign-off procedure Lack of explicit direciton has resulted in developers taking a variety of approaches, often lacking any intent whatsoever, e.g. scattering SOBs willy-nilly, collecting them all at the end or the beginning, etc... Tweak the wording to make it clear that multiple co-authors are allowed, and document the expectation that standard sign-off procedures are to be followed. Provide examples to (hopefully) eliminate any ambiguity. Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Jani Nikula <jani.nikula@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Jorge Ramirez-Ortiz <jorge.ramirez-ortiz@xxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Jonathan Cameron <jic23@xxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Joe Perches <joe@xxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Niklas Cassel <niklas.cassel@xxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@xxxxxxx> Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <sean.j.christopherson@xxxxxxxxx> --- v1: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20190320151140.32432-1-sean.j.christopherson@xxxxxxxxx v2: Rewrite the blurb to state standard sign-off procedure should be followed as opposed to dictating the original author's SOB be last. Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst | 24 +++++++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst index be7d1829c3af..a7a9da68a384 100644 --- a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst +++ b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst @@ -545,10 +545,28 @@ person it names - but it should indicate that this person was copied on the patch. This tag documents that potentially interested parties have been included in the discussion. -A Co-developed-by: states that the patch was also created by another developer +A Co-developed-by: states that the patch was co-created by other developer(s) along with the original author. This is useful at times when multiple people -work on a single patch. Note, this person also needs to have a Signed-off-by: -line in the patch as well. +work on a single patch. Every Co-developed-by: must be immediately followed by +a Signed-off-by: of the co-author. Standard sign-off procedure applies, i.e. +the ordering of Co-developed-by:/Signed-off-by: pairs should reflect the +chronological history of the patch insofar as possible. Notably, the last +Signed-off-by: must always be that of the developer submitting the patch, +regardless of whether they are the original author or a co-author. + +Example of a patch with multiple co-authors, submitted by the original author:: + + Co-developed-by: First Co-Author <first@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> + Signed-off-by: First Co-Author <first@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> + Co-developed-by: Second Co-Author <second@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> + Signed-off-by: Second Co-Author <second@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> + Signed-off-by: Original Author <original@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> + +Example of a patch submitted by a co-author:: + + Signed-off-by: Original Author <original@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> + Co-developed-by: Submitting Co-Author <sub@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> + Signed-off-by: Submitting Co-Author <sub@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 13) Using Reported-by:, Tested-by:, Reviewed-by:, Suggested-by: and Fixes: -- 2.21.0
