license: introduce SPDX identifiers

[dpdk.git] / doc / guides / contributing / patches.rst

diff --git a/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst b/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
index 7926c96..64408e7 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
@@ -32,6 +32,29 @@ It is also worth registering for the DPDK `Patchwork <http://dpdk.org/dev/patchw
 The development process requires some familiarity with the ``git`` version control system.
 Refer to the `Pro Git Book <http://www.git-scm.com/book/>`_ for further information.
 
+Source License
+--------------
+
+The DPDK uses the Open Source BSD-3-Clause license for the core libraries and
+drivers. The kernel components are GPL-2.0 licensed. DPDK uses single line
+reference to Unique License Identifiers in source files as defined by the Linux
+Foundation's `SPDX project <http://spdx.org/>`_.
+
+DPDK uses first line of the file to be SPDX tag. In case of *#!* scripts, SPDX
+tag can be placed in 2nd line of the file.
+
+For example, to label a file as subject to the BSD-3-Clause license,
+the following text would be used:
+
+``SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause``
+
+To label a file as dual-licensed with BSD-3-Clause and GPL-2.0 (e.g., for code
+that is shared between the kernel and userspace), the following text would be
+used:
+
+``SPDX-License-Identifier: (BSD-3-Clause OR GPL-2.0)``
+
+Refer to ``licenses/README`` for more details.
 
 Maintainers and Sub-trees
 -------------------------
@@ -207,18 +230,21 @@ Here are some guidelines for the body of a commit message:
 
 * The text of the commit message should be wrapped at 72 characters.
 
-* When fixing a regression, it is a good idea to reference the id of the commit which introduced the bug.
-  You can generate the required text using the following git alias::
+* When fixing a regression, it is required to reference the id of the commit
+  which introduced the bug, and put the original author of that commit on CC.
+  You can generate the required lines using the following git alias, which prints
+  the commit SHA and the author of the original code::
 
-     git config alias.fixline "log -1 --abbrev=12 --format='Fixes: %h (\"%s\")'"
+     git config alias.fixline "log -1 --abbrev=12 --format='Fixes: %h (\"%s\")%nCc: %ae'"
 
-  The ``Fixes:`` line can then be added to the commit message::
+  The output of ``git fixline <SHA>`` must then be added to the commit message::
 
-     doc: fix vhost sample parameter
+     doc: fix some parameter description
 
-     Update the docs to reflect removed dev-index.
+     Update the docs, fixing description of some parameter.
 
-     Fixes: 17b8320a3e11 ("vhost: remove index parameter")
+     Fixes: abcdefgh1234 ("doc: add some parameter")
+     Cc: author@example.com
 
      Signed-off-by: Alex Smith <alex.smith@example.com>
 
@@ -364,7 +390,6 @@ The builds can be modified via the following environmental variables:
 * ``DPDK_BUILD_TEST_CONFIGS`` (target1+option1+option2 target2)
 * ``DPDK_DEP_CFLAGS``
 * ``DPDK_DEP_LDFLAGS``
-* ``DPDK_DEP_MOFED`` (y/[n])
 * ``DPDK_DEP_PCAP`` (y/[n])
 * ``DPDK_NOTIFY`` (notify-send)
 
@@ -401,6 +426,10 @@ The appropriate maintainer can be found in the ``MAINTAINERS`` file::
 
    git send-email --to maintainer@some.org --cc dev@dpdk.org 000*.patch
 
+Script ``get-maintainer.sh`` can be used to select maintainers automatically::
+
+  git send-email --to-cmd ./devtools/get-maintainer.sh --cc dev@dpdk.org 000*.patch
+
 New additions can be sent without a maintainer::
 
    git send-email --to dev@dpdk.org 000*.patch