Re: [PATCH 1/2] docs: dt: submitting-patches: Document sending DTS patches

Laurent Pinchart
2025-02-25T20:32:34Z

Hi Krzysztof,

On Tue, Feb 25, 2025 at 07:48:21PM +0100, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
> Document two rules already widely used and enforced by DT maintainers
> and SoC platform maintainers:
>
> 1. DTS patches should be placed at the end of driver patchset to
> indicate no dependencies of driver code on DTS.
>
> 2. DTS patches should be applied via SoC platform maintainers, because
> it is a driver-independent hardware description. However some
> driver maintainers are reluctant to pick up portions of patchsets and
> prefer to take entire set at once. For such cases, the DTS portion
> should be split into separate patchset, so it will not end up in the
> driver subsystem integration tree.
>
> Signed-off-by: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzysztof.kozlowski@linaro.org>

This matches my understanding of the current (and best) practices, so

Reviewed-by: Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@ideasonboard.com>

> ---
> .../bindings/submitting-patches.rst | 19 +++++++++++++++++--
> 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/submitting-patches.rst
> index a64f21a5f299..f3e23e69a638 100644
> --- a/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/submitting-patches.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/devicetree/bindings/submitting-patches.rst
> @@ -54,11 +54,22 @@ I. For patch submitters
> followed as of commit bff5da4335256513497cc8c79f9a9d1665e09864
> ("checkpatch: add DT compatible string documentation checks"). ]
>
> - 7) If a documented compatible string is not yet matched by the
> + 7) DTS is treated in general as driver-independent hardware description, thus
> + any DTS patches, regardless whether using existing or new bindings, should
> + be placed at the end of patchset to indicate no dependency of drivers on
> + the DTS. DTS will be anyway applied through separate tree or branch, so
> + different order would indicate the serie is non-bisectable.
> +
> + If a driver subsystem maintainer prefers to apply entire set, instead of
> + their relevant portion of patchset, please split the DTS patches into
> + separate patchset with a reference in changelog or cover letter to the
> + bindings submission on the mailing list.
> +
> + 8) If a documented compatible string is not yet matched by the
> driver, the documentation should also include a compatible
> string that is matched by the driver.
>
> - 8) Bindings are actively used by multiple projects other than the Linux
> + 9) Bindings are actively used by multiple projects other than the Linux
> Kernel, extra care and consideration may need to be taken when making changes
> to existing bindings.
>
> @@ -79,6 +90,10 @@ II. For kernel maintainers
> 3) For a series going though multiple trees, the binding patch should be
> kept with the driver using the binding.
>
> + 4) The DTS files should however never be applied via driver subsystem tree,
> + but always via platform SoC trees on dedicated branches (see also
> + Documentation/process/maintainer-soc.rst).
> +
> III. Notes
> ==========
>
> --
> 2.43.0
>
>

--
Regards,

Laurent Pinchart