Linux Kernel Development Checklist

April 11, 2022 - 3 mins read

Because I always tend to forget steps, and haven’t half replaced myself with a shell script (yet), here’s a reminder to myself on how to post a patch to the Linux netdev mailing list.

Make your changes on an up-to-date branch from net-next master:

$ git checkout -b my-patch-series
$ git fetch --all --tags
$ git rebase net-next/master

Use logical commits; upgrade package as one, changing/extending behavior as another, etc.

Use commit messages to record why changes are made. First line is a summary referencing the sub-system, followed by an empty line and the message body, and concluded by your sign-off:

 net bridge: add support for foo bar

 You need an actual body of your commit message, otherwise the
 checkpatch.pl script (below) will complain.  For good reason,
 why wouldn't you want to tell the tale of how you ended up at
 this point in history?

 Signed-off-by: Your Name <your.name@example.com>

Maybe consider adding a selftest. Better than having to answer any question later on how your feature is supposed to work. Or even to give a maintainer a before-after test to see your patch actually does fix what you say it does.
Format your patches, with the optional --cover-letter, very useful to explain a series of patches:
```
$ git format-patch --cover-letter -M -n -s -o mail net-next/master
```
Remember: edit the cover letter — it serves as an introduction and explains the reasoning behind your changes. Focus on the why, not the how, the patches have separate commit messages
Check your patch(es), this is one of the most important steps. The checkpatch.pl script is the collected wisdom of the ancients, the oracle that you can ask free of shame before submitting yourself to the wrath of the maintainers:
```
$ ./scripts/checkpatch.pl mail/*
```
Figure out maintainers to Cc in your correspondence to the mailing list. Please note, it is up to you to figure out the relevant people and lists to Cc. The script gives you an idea of who have recently traveled beyond the rim like you, as well as those who do live there permanently.
```
$ ./scripts/get_maintainer.pl mail/*
```
Inspect the cover letter and patches one last time:
- Did you remember to address all comments? Double check …
- Did you remember to add all Reviewed-by: and Acked-by: tags from a previous version you sent?
- Did you double-check any updated email addresses for maintainers?
OK, time to send!
```
$ git send-email --to netdev@vger.kernel.org --cc foo@example.com mail/*
```
You are offered one last chance to proofread the contents (remember to check the email headers!) before you send.

Note: if you haven’t set up your ~/.gitconfig yet for sending email, please see https://git-scm.com/docs/git-send-email or my blog post https://troglobit.com/post/2022-01-24-gmail-and-git-send-email/ for details.