Re: [RFC] HOWTO do Linux kernel development

linux
2005-11-16T12:15:20Z

> What should you not do?
>
> - expect your patch to be accepted without question
> - become defensive
> - ignore comments and resubmit the patch without making any changes
> - explain how your project is funded by XYZ and therefore must be
> awesome as it is
>
> In a community that is looking for the best technical solution
> possible, there will always be differing opinions on how beneficial a
> patch is. You have to be cooperative, and
> willing to adapt your idea to fit within the kernel. Or at least be
> willing to prove your idea is worth it. Remember, being wrong is ok
> as long as you are willing to work toward a solution that is right.

One thing to add is that you do NOT have to be a crowd-pleasing politican
and make every change that some random person on lkml suggests.

Indeed, because you're getting comments from a large group of individuals
and not a single entity, you may get flat-out contradictory feedback.

Obviously, comments from the maintainers of subsystems you're touching
should be accorded significant weight, but you can disagree with Linus
if you have a good enough reason. What you should do is think about the
comments and, if you disagree, explain why your way is better.