Files
openwrt_mitrastar/target/linux/generic/PATCHES.md
Álvaro Fernández Rojas f9ea340288 generic: improve patches documentation
It's time to give the patches documentation some love by:
- Using Markdown.
- Differentiating between generic and specific target patches.
- Adding deeper explanation about patch numbering.

Link: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/pull/19092
Signed-off-by: Álvaro Fernández Rojas <noltari@gmail.com>
2025-06-11 15:09:46 +02:00

3.0 KiB

OpenWrt kernel patches

All patches must be in a way that they are potentially upstreamable, meaning:

  • They must contain a proper subject.
  • They must contain a proper commit message explaining what they change and why.
  • They must contain a valid Signed-off-by line.

The build system applies the patches in the following order:

  1. target/linux/generic/backport-*/
  2. target/linux/generic/pending-*/
  3. target/linux/generic/hack-*/
  4. target/linux/<target name>/patches-*/

OpenWrt generic

The generic target patches are applied to every OpenWrt target before any of the specific target patches are applied.

backport

The backport-* subdirectories contain the kernel patches backported from newer kernels.

In order to save naming space for newer patches to come, when adding a new subset of patches which are related between them the following naming convention shall be used: NNN-SS-vX.Y-lowercase_shortname.patch. For single patches, the following naming convention shall be used instead: NNN-vX.Y-lowercase_shortname.patch.

Item Description
NNN Main patch number.
SS Subset patch number.
vX.Y Upstream kernel version.

hack

The hack-* subdirectories contain the downstream kernel patches that are less likely to be accepted upstream but are still needed in OpenWrt. Some of these patches are potentially upstreamable if properly reworked and others aren't simply worth the effort.

All patches should be named NNN-lowercase_shortname.patch.

pending

The pending-* subdirectories contain the kernel patches awaiting upstream merge.

All patches should be named NNN-lowercase_shortname.patch.

Patch number guidelines

The following patch numbering guidelines shall be followed:

NNN Description
0xx -
1xx -
2xx Kernel build / config / header
3xx Architecture specific
4xx MTD
5xx Filesystem
6xx Generic network
7xx Network / PHY
8xx Other drivers
9xx Uncategorized

OpenWrt targets

The patches-* subdirectories contain the kernel patches applied for every OpenWrt target.

All patches should be named NNN-lowercase_shortname.patch.

Patch number guidelines

The following patch numbering guidelines shall be followed:

NNN Description
0xx Upstream backports
1xx Awaiting upstream merge
2xx Kernel build / config / header
3xx Architecture specific
4xx MTD
5xx Filesystem
6xx Generic network
7xx Network / PHY
8xx Other drivers
9xx Uncategorized