Re: [PATCH] Avoid warning when From: is encoded

From: Jon Loeliger <jdl@freescale.com>
Date: Jul 25, 2008, 16:39 UTC
Message-ID: <488A01B8.2010405@freescale.com>
In-Reply-To: <bd6139dc0807250901n7408a8e6w5dead238e897fc03@mail.gmail.com>

Sverre Rabbelier wrote:

> Acked-by is reserved for people who are "owners" of the area the patch
> touches.

I love pronouncements like this. While that may be exactly true for the Git project, it is not, in general, always true. Within parts of the Kernel development process, anyone who wants to may ACK a patch if they have done some level of work to confirm that it "is good", for some measure of "good", even if that is just applying the patch and testing it. It is re-assurance that other people consider the patch acceptable.

Of course, if there are, say, multiple functional areas with different maintainers, and the patch should go in via one repository but crosses into a second or third functional area, getting the ACK from the other maintainers may be considered essential for its ultimate acceptance. In that regard, yes, the maintainer's ACK carries more weight.

> So for example, a patch to git-gui could be Acked-by Shawn O.
> Pierce, or one related to pack format by Nico (I think?). So you
> should Ack it if you have done (a lot of) work in the same area as the
> patch before and if the patch looks good.

Agreed.

jdl