[dpdk-dev] [PATCH] doc: advise to specify LTS branch when backporting patches

[luca.boccassi at gmail.com]

From: Luca Boccassi <bluca at debian.org>

We have many stable branches being maintaned at the same time, and
sometimes it's not clear which branch a patch is being backported for.
Note in the guidelines that it should be specified via the cover letter,
annotation or using --subject-prefix.
Also note to send only to stable at dpdk.org, not dev at dpdk.org.

Signed-off-by: Luca Boccassi <bluca at debian.org>
---
 doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst | 8 ++++++++
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+)

diff --git a/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst b/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
index 2287835f9..1dc623a23 100644
--- a/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
@@ -450,6 +450,14 @@ Experienced committers may send patches directly with ``git send-email`` without
 The options ``--annotate`` and ``confirm = always`` are recommended for checking patches before sending.
 
 
+Backporting patches for Stable Releases
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Sometimes a maintainer or contributor wishes, or can be asked, to send a patch for a stable release rather than mainline. In this case the patch(es) should be sent to ``stable at dpdk.org``, not to ``dev at dpdk.org``.
+
+Given that there are multiple stable releases being maintained at the same time, please specify exactly which branch the patch is for in the cover letter, in the annotation or using ``git send-email --subject-prefix='16.11' ...``
+
+
 The Review Process
 ------------------
 
-- 
2.14.2