Contributing to libdrm

Submitting Patches

Patches should be sent to dri-devel@lists.freedesktop.org, using git send-email. For patches only touching driver specific code one of the driver mailing lists (like amd-gfx@lists.freedesktop.org) is also appropriate. See git documentation for help:

http://git-scm.com/documentation

Since dri-devel is a very busy mailing list please use --subject-prefix="PATCH libdrm" to make it easier to find libdrm patches. This is best done by running

git config --local format.subjectprefix "PATCH libdrm"

The first line of a commit message should contain a prefix indicating what part is affected by the patch followed by one sentence that describes the change. For examples:

amdgpu: Use uint32_t i in amdgpu_find_bo_by_cpu_mapping

The body of the commit message should describe what the patch changes and why, and also note any particular side effects. For a recommended reading on writing commit messages, see:

http://who-t.blogspot.de/2009/12/on-commit-messages.html

Your patches should also include a Signed-off-by line with your name and email address. If you're not the patch's original author, you should also gather S-o-b's by them (and/or whomever gave the patch to you.) The significance of this is that it certifies that you created the patch, that it was created under an appropriate open source license, or provided to you under those terms. This lets us indicate a chain of responsibility for the copyright status of the code. For more details:

https://developercertificate.org/

We won't reject patches that lack S-o-b, but it is strongly recommended.

Review and Merging

Patches should have at least one positive review (Reviewed-by: tag) or indication of approval (Acked-by: tag) before merging. For any code shared between drivers this is mandatory.

Please note that kernel/userspace API header files have special rules, see include/drm/README.

Coding style in the project loosely follows the CodingStyle of the linux kernel:

https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html?highlight=coding%20style

Commit Rights

Commit rights will be granted to anyone who requests them and fulfills the below criteria:

• Submitted a few (5-10 as a rule of thumb) non-trivial (not just simple spelling fixes and whitespace adjustment) patches that have been merged already. Since libdrm is just a glue library between the kernel and userspace drivers, merged patches to those components also count towards the commit criteria.
• Are actively participating on discussions about their work (on the mailing list or IRC). This should not be interpreted as a requirement to review other peoples patches but just make sure that patch submission isn't one-way communication. Cross-review is still highly encouraged.
• Will be regularly contributing further patches. This includes regular contributors to other parts of the open source graphics stack who only do the oddball rare patch within libdrm itself.
• Agrees to use their commit rights in accordance with the documented merge criteria, tools, and processes.

To apply for commit rights ("Developer" role in gitlab) send a mail to dri-devel@lists.freedesktop.org and please ping the maintainers if your request is stuck.

Committers are encouraged to request their commit rights get removed when they no longer contribute to the project. Commit rights will be reinstated when they come back to the project.

Maintainers and committers should encourage contributors to request commit rights, as especially junior contributors tend to underestimate their skills.

Code of Conduct

Please be aware the fd.o Code of Conduct also applies to libdrm:

https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/CodeOfConduct/

See the gitlab project owners for contact details of the libdrm maintainers.

Abuse of commit rights, like engaging in commit fights or willfully pushing patches that violate the documented merge criteria, will also be handled through the Code of Conduct enforcement process.

Happy hacking!