Re:I got robbed of my first kernel contribution
by jacquesm on Wednesday September 27, 2023 @02:13PM
(#37678773)
A maintainer can't approve a patch that wasn't properly signed off, that's one of the very few rules set for patch submission that has nothing to do with the code but everything to do with the legal implications of including code that isn't properly attributed and an essential part in keeping the Linux kernel unencumbered.
This is not some rubberstamp formality, it is an actual declaration of authorship and shields the kernel maintainers from possible claims of copyright infringement.
1. Please don't drop cases from your #if CONFIG_PPC32 blocks that are handled on 64 bit. You can use if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_PPC32)) instead of #ifdef so the only difference is in the array access.
2. Please remove the FPRINDEX macro; as you note in your commit message, we can assume TS_FPRWIDTH is 1.
The maintainer also wrote a long and detailed commit message in his own version of the patch; he had time to explain things.
In this exact situation, I would possibly have made the code adjustments myself and written "patch provided by Ariel Miculas". Then send an e-mail saying that I made a few minor tweaks to your patch, here is what it looks like.
"patch provided by" tells the truth: that person provided a working patch. It doesn't say that the patch they provided is precisely this one.