[PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Dragan Simic]

This is a short series that adds Helped-by tag to the list of accepted
tags in scripts/checkpatch.pl, and describes the intended use of this new
tag in Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst.

The proposed Helped-by tag fits well to indicate someone had helped with
the development of a patch, to the level that doesn't warrant providing
a Co-developed-by tag, but is much more than it would've been indicated
by providing a Suggested-by tag.

Changes in v2:
  - Changed into a small patch series
  - Added a patch that describes the intended use of proposed Helped-by
    tag to Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst, to hopefully
    help with accepting this new tag, and to make its intended use more
    clear, as suggested by Chen-Yu [1]
  - Added a patch that reflows a bit one short paragraph in the same
    documentation file mentioned above

Link to v1: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-kernel/0e1ef28710e3e49222c966f07958a9879fa4e903.1729871544.git.dsimic@manjaro.org/T/#u

[1] https://lore.kernel.org/linux-sunxi/CAGb2v67fLPf-yKObuds3LC77gT_W_OmgSK5y2KotRC-Zn9aL7w@mail.gmail.com/

Dragan Simic (3):
  checkpatch: Make Helped-by tag supported
  docs: submitting-patches: Reflow one short paragraph
  docs: submitting-patches: Describe the use of Helped-by tag

 Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst | 17 ++++++++++++-----
 scripts/checkpatch.pl                        |  1 +
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

[PATCH v2 1/3] checkpatch: Make Helped-by tag supported

[Dragan Simic]

Providing a Helped-by tag fits well to indicate someone had helped with the
development of a patch, to the level that still doesn't warrant providing
a Co-developed-by tag, but is much more than it would've been indicated by
providing a Suggested-by tag.  The Helped-by tag been already used recently
a few times in accepted patches. [1]

With all this in mind, let's have Helped-by supported in checkpatch.pl.

[1] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/?qt=grep&q=Helped-by

Signed-off-by: Dragan Simic <dsimic@manjaro.org>
---
 scripts/checkpatch.pl | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/scripts/checkpatch.pl b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
index 4427572b2477..b89e62e9c2dd 100755
--- a/scripts/checkpatch.pl
+++ b/scripts/checkpatch.pl
@@ -622,6 +622,7 @@ our $signature_tags = qr{(?xi:
 	Reviewed-by:|
 	Reported-by:|
 	Suggested-by:|
+	Helped-by:|
 	To:|
 	Cc:
 )};

[PATCH v2 2/3] docs: submitting-patches: Reflow one short paragraph

[Dragan Simic]

Reflow one spotted short paragraph, to make it more consistent with the rest
of the file.  No functional changes are introduced.

Signed-off-by: Dragan Simic <dsimic@manjaro.org>
---
 Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst | 5 ++---
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
index 1518bd57adab..382c49659cb9 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
@@ -202,9 +202,8 @@ Style-check your changes
 ------------------------
 
 Check your patch for basic style violations, details of which can be
-found in Documentation/process/coding-style.rst.
-Failure to do so simply wastes
-the reviewers time and will get your patch rejected, probably
+found in Documentation/process/coding-style.rst.  Failure to do so simply
+wastes the reviewers time and will get your patch rejected, probably
 without even being read.
 
 One significant exception is when moving code from one file to

[PATCH v2 3/3] docs: submitting-patches: Describe the use of Helped-by tag

[Dragan Simic]

Add the description of the intended use of Helped-by tags, which give credit
to the persons who assisted the patch authors in a way that didn't actually
contribute to the patch directly, i.e. at the source-code level.

Suggested-by: Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@csie.org>
Signed-off-by: Dragan Simic <dsimic@manjaro.org>
---
 Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst | 12 ++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
index 382c49659cb9..d0d12536ab68 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
@@ -452,8 +452,8 @@ as it was propagated to the maintainers and ultimately to Linus, with
 the first SoB entry signalling primary authorship of a single author.
 
 
-When to use Acked-by:, Cc:, and Co-developed-by:
-------------------------------------------------
+When to use Acked-by:, Cc:, Co-developed-by:, and Helped-by
+-----------------------------------------------------------
 
 The Signed-off-by: tag indicates that the signer was involved in the
 development of the patch, or that he/she was in the patch's delivery path.
@@ -495,6 +495,14 @@ chronological history of the patch insofar as possible, regardless of whether
 the author is attributed via From: or Co-developed-by:.  Notably, the last
 Signed-off-by: must always be that of the developer submitting the patch.
 
+Helped-by: gives attribution to the persons that helped the patch authors
+in a way that didn't directly produce the patch itself.  For example, someone
+may provide significant assistance to the authors by researching the schematic
+of a device that the patch addresses, or by providing the patch authors with
+some background information required to develop the patch, while contributing
+no actual source code.  As a result of no direct patch authorship, no
+Signed-off-by: tags are needed together with Helped-by: tags.
+
 Note, the From: tag is optional when the From: author is also the person (and
 email) listed in the From: line of the email header.
 

Re: [PATCH v2 3/3] docs: submitting-patches: Describe the use of Helped-by tag

[Dragan Simic]

Hello,

On 2024-11-06 07:28, Dragan Simic wrote:
> Add the description of the intended use of Helped-by tags, which give 
> credit
> to the persons who assisted the patch authors in a way that didn't 
> actually
> contribute to the patch directly, i.e. at the source-code level.
> 
> Suggested-by: Chen-Yu Tsai <wens@csie.org>
> Signed-off-by: Dragan Simic <dsimic@manjaro.org>
> ---
>  Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst | 12 ++++++++++--
>  1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
> b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
> index 382c49659cb9..d0d12536ab68 100644
> --- a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
> @@ -452,8 +452,8 @@ as it was propagated to the maintainers and
> ultimately to Linus, with
>  the first SoB entry signalling primary authorship of a single author.
> 
> 
> -When to use Acked-by:, Cc:, and Co-developed-by:
> -------------------------------------------------
> +When to use Acked-by:, Cc:, Co-developed-by:, and Helped-by
> +-----------------------------------------------------------

Oh, now I see that I've missed a colon after Helped-by in the section
title above. :/  Would you like me to send a v3 with the fix, or do you
prefer to fix it by hand before applying the patch?

>  The Signed-off-by: tag indicates that the signer was involved in the
>  development of the patch, or that he/she was in the patch's delivery 
> path.
> @@ -495,6 +495,14 @@ chronological history of the patch insofar as
> possible, regardless of whether
>  the author is attributed via From: or Co-developed-by:.  Notably, the 
> last
>  Signed-off-by: must always be that of the developer submitting the 
> patch.
> 
> +Helped-by: gives attribution to the persons that helped the patch 
> authors
> +in a way that didn't directly produce the patch itself.  For example, 
> someone
> +may provide significant assistance to the authors by researching the 
> schematic
> +of a device that the patch addresses, or by providing the patch 
> authors with
> +some background information required to develop the patch, while 
> contributing
> +no actual source code.  As a result of no direct patch authorship, no
> +Signed-off-by: tags are needed together with Helped-by: tags.
> +
>  Note, the From: tag is optional when the From: author is also the 
> person (and
>  email) listed in the From: line of the email header.

Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Jonathan Corbet]

Dragan Simic <dsimic@manjaro.org> writes:

> This is a short series that adds Helped-by tag to the list of accepted
> tags in scripts/checkpatch.pl, and describes the intended use of this new
> tag in Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst.
>
> The proposed Helped-by tag fits well to indicate someone had helped with
> the development of a patch, to the level that doesn't warrant providing
> a Co-developed-by tag, but is much more than it would've been indicated
> by providing a Suggested-by tag.

The documentation is meant to cover our existing conventions, rather
than to drive new ones - usually, at least.  There are exactly 11
commits in the history with Helped-by, suggesting we're not really at an
established convention at this point.  Given that there has been some
resistance to inventing new tags, are we sure that we want this one?

Thanks,

jon

Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Dragan Simic]

Hello Jonathan,

On 2024-11-06 15:28, Jonathan Corbet wrote:
> Dragan Simic <dsimic@manjaro.org> writes:
> 
>> This is a short series that adds Helped-by tag to the list of accepted
>> tags in scripts/checkpatch.pl, and describes the intended use of this 
>> new
>> tag in Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst.
>> 
>> The proposed Helped-by tag fits well to indicate someone had helped 
>> with
>> the development of a patch, to the level that doesn't warrant 
>> providing
>> a Co-developed-by tag, but is much more than it would've been 
>> indicated
>> by providing a Suggested-by tag.
> 
> The documentation is meant to cover our existing conventions, rather
> than to drive new ones - usually, at least.  There are exactly 11
> commits in the history with Helped-by, suggesting we're not really at 
> an
> established convention at this point.  Given that there has been some
> resistance to inventing new tags, are we sure that we want this one?

Thanks for your response.

Of course, the documentation would be updated only if the first patch
in this series becomes accepted, i.e. if Helped-by becomes supported
in checkpatch.pl.  I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough.

It's usually said that necessity is mother of invention, which is the
case here.  In a few words, I've got another patch pending merging [1]
that a couple of people helped me with.  What they did is more than
what Suggested-by tags would indicate, but doesn't really warrant
Co-developed-by + Signed-off-by pairs or tags.  Having Helped-by tags
provided for both of them would fit pretty much perfectly.

It was very similar, if not the same, when it comes to the development
that led to a few commits already containing Helped-by tags. [2]  Sure,
that isn't a whole lot of such commits, but this may be a good point
to decide what to do with Helped-by tags in the future.

I'm fully aware that we may be reluctant to supporting additional tags,
because we may then end up with a whole bunch of strange tags that might
be a bit hard to understand and use properly, but I think that adding
Helped-by to the supported tag list may actually be a good thing to do.
As described above, Helped-by fits very well between the Suggested-by
tag and the Co-developed-by + Signed-off-by pair of tags, and I think
that providing the right level of attribution may be beneficial.

[1] 
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-sunxi/129f0c754d071cca1db5d207d9d4a7bd9831dff7.1726773282.git.dsimic@manjaro.org/T/#u
[2] 
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/log/?qt=grep&q=Helped-by

Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Dan Williams]

Dragan Simic wrote:
[..]
> I'm fully aware that we may be reluctant to supporting additional tags,
> because we may then end up with a whole bunch of strange tags that might
> be a bit hard to understand and use properly, but I think that adding
> Helped-by to the supported tag list may actually be a good thing to do.
> As described above, Helped-by fits very well between the Suggested-by
> tag and the Co-developed-by + Signed-off-by pair of tags, and I think
> that providing the right level of attribution may be beneficial.

Patch attribution is separate from giving thanks. I would much rather
someone take the time to say "Thanks" in the changelog with some
supporting text rather than boil down all the myriad ways to be thankful
into a generic tag. "git log --grep=Thanks" often yields valuable
details, beyond just attribution, on how people have helped each other
develop this global project of ours. If the introduction of Helped-by
would replace even one authentic "Thank you" note with a generic tag
then it is a net loss for the community.

Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Dragan Simic]

Hello Dan,

On 2024-11-08 20:12, Dan Williams wrote:
> Dragan Simic wrote:
>> I'm fully aware that we may be reluctant to supporting additional 
>> tags,
>> because we may then end up with a whole bunch of strange tags that 
>> might
>> be a bit hard to understand and use properly, but I think that adding
>> Helped-by to the supported tag list may actually be a good thing to 
>> do.
>> As described above, Helped-by fits very well between the Suggested-by
>> tag and the Co-developed-by + Signed-off-by pair of tags, and I think
>> that providing the right level of attribution may be beneficial.
> 
> Patch attribution is separate from giving thanks. I would much rather
> someone take the time to say "Thanks" in the changelog with some
> supporting text rather than boil down all the myriad ways to be 
> thankful
> into a generic tag. "git log --grep=Thanks" often yields valuable
> details, beyond just attribution, on how people have helped each other
> develop this global project of ours. If the introduction of Helped-by
> would replace even one authentic "Thank you" note with a generic tag
> then it is a net loss for the community.

I do agree that writing "Thanks John for helping with..." in a patch
description would be nice, but unfortunately I've seen multiple times
that people don't enjoy writing their patch descriptions at all, and
just want to "get them out the door" as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, making Helped-by tags supported would allow such
people to at least quickly mention someone they're thankful to, which
actually wouldn't prevent anyone from saying the same more verbosely
in a patch description.

Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Dragan Simic]

On 2024-11-09 04:10, Dragan Simic wrote:
> On 2024-11-08 20:12, Dan Williams wrote:
>> Dragan Simic wrote:
>>> I'm fully aware that we may be reluctant to supporting additional 
>>> tags,
>>> because we may then end up with a whole bunch of strange tags that 
>>> might
>>> be a bit hard to understand and use properly, but I think that adding
>>> Helped-by to the supported tag list may actually be a good thing to 
>>> do.
>>> As described above, Helped-by fits very well between the Suggested-by
>>> tag and the Co-developed-by + Signed-off-by pair of tags, and I think
>>> that providing the right level of attribution may be beneficial.
>> 
>> Patch attribution is separate from giving thanks. I would much rather
>> someone take the time to say "Thanks" in the changelog with some
>> supporting text rather than boil down all the myriad ways to be 
>> thankful
>> into a generic tag. "git log --grep=Thanks" often yields valuable
>> details, beyond just attribution, on how people have helped each other
>> develop this global project of ours. If the introduction of Helped-by
>> would replace even one authentic "Thank you" note with a generic tag
>> then it is a net loss for the community.
> 
> I do agree that writing "Thanks John for helping with..." in a patch
> description would be nice, but unfortunately I've seen multiple times
> that people don't enjoy writing their patch descriptions at all, and
> just want to "get them out the door" as quickly as possible.
> 
> With that in mind, making Helped-by tags supported would allow such
> people to at least quickly mention someone they're thankful to, which
> actually wouldn't prevent anyone from saying the same more verbosely
> in a patch description.

Just checking, are there any further thoughts on this patch?

Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Matthew Wilcox]

On Mon, Dec 02, 2024 at 04:00:47PM +0100, Dragan Simic wrote:
> On 2024-11-09 04:10, Dragan Simic wrote:
> > On 2024-11-08 20:12, Dan Williams wrote:
> > > Dragan Simic wrote:
> > > > I'm fully aware that we may be reluctant to supporting
> > > > additional tags,
> > > > because we may then end up with a whole bunch of strange tags
> > > > that might
> > > > be a bit hard to understand and use properly, but I think that adding
> > > > Helped-by to the supported tag list may actually be a good thing
> > > > to do.
> > > > As described above, Helped-by fits very well between the Suggested-by
> > > > tag and the Co-developed-by + Signed-off-by pair of tags, and I think
> > > > that providing the right level of attribution may be beneficial.
> > > 
> > > Patch attribution is separate from giving thanks. I would much rather
> > > someone take the time to say "Thanks" in the changelog with some
> > > supporting text rather than boil down all the myriad ways to be
> > > thankful
> > > into a generic tag. "git log --grep=Thanks" often yields valuable
> > > details, beyond just attribution, on how people have helped each other
> > > develop this global project of ours. If the introduction of Helped-by
> > > would replace even one authentic "Thank you" note with a generic tag
> > > then it is a net loss for the community.
> > 
> > I do agree that writing "Thanks John for helping with..." in a patch
> > description would be nice, but unfortunately I've seen multiple times
> > that people don't enjoy writing their patch descriptions at all, and
> > just want to "get them out the door" as quickly as possible.
> > 
> > With that in mind, making Helped-by tags supported would allow such
> > people to at least quickly mention someone they're thankful to, which
> > actually wouldn't prevent anyone from saying the same more verbosely
> > in a patch description.
> 
> Just checking, are there any further thoughts on this patch?

I agree with Dan & Jon; we don't need this tag.  And if someone's doing
a poor job of writing commit messages, they need to be helped to write
better ones.

Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] Make Helped-by tag supported

[Shuah Khan]

On 12/2/24 10:11, Matthew Wilcox wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 02, 2024 at 04:00:47PM +0100, Dragan Simic wrote:
>> On 2024-11-09 04:10, Dragan Simic wrote:
>>> On 2024-11-08 20:12, Dan Williams wrote:
>>>> Dragan Simic wrote:
>>>>> I'm fully aware that we may be reluctant to supporting
>>>>> additional tags,
>>>>> because we may then end up with a whole bunch of strange tags
>>>>> that might
>>>>> be a bit hard to understand and use properly, but I think that adding
>>>>> Helped-by to the supported tag list may actually be a good thing
>>>>> to do.
>>>>> As described above, Helped-by fits very well between the Suggested-by
>>>>> tag and the Co-developed-by + Signed-off-by pair of tags, and I think
>>>>> that providing the right level of attribution may be beneficial.
>>>>
>>>> Patch attribution is separate from giving thanks. I would much rather
>>>> someone take the time to say "Thanks" in the changelog with some
>>>> supporting text rather than boil down all the myriad ways to be
>>>> thankful
>>>> into a generic tag. "git log --grep=Thanks" often yields valuable
>>>> details, beyond just attribution, on how people have helped each other
>>>> develop this global project of ours. If the introduction of Helped-by
>>>> would replace even one authentic "Thank you" note with a generic tag
>>>> then it is a net loss for the community.
>>>
>>> I do agree that writing "Thanks John for helping with..." in a patch
>>> description would be nice, but unfortunately I've seen multiple times
>>> that people don't enjoy writing their patch descriptions at all, and
>>> just want to "get them out the door" as quickly as possible.
>>>
>>> With that in mind, making Helped-by tags supported would allow such
>>> people to at least quickly mention someone they're thankful to, which
>>> actually wouldn't prevent anyone from saying the same more verbosely
>>> in a patch description.
>>
>> Just checking, are there any further thoughts on this patch?
> 
> I agree with Dan & Jon; we don't need this tag.  And if someone's doing
> a poor job of writing commit messages, they need to be helped to write
> better ones.
> 

+1 on this. I don't think we need yet another tag.

thanks,
-- Shuah