[dpdk-dev] [PATCH v3] doc: advise to specify LTS branch when backporting patches

[luca.boccassi@gmail.com]

From: Luca Boccassi <bluca@debian.org>

We have many stable branches being maintained at the same time, and
sometimes it's not clear which branch a patch is being backported for.
Note in the guidelines that it should be specified via the cover letter,
annotation or using --subject-prefix.
Also note to send only to stable@dpdk.org, not dev@dpdk.org.

Signed-off-by: Luca Boccassi <bluca@debian.org>
---
v3: break long lines, fix subject-prefix argument to include PATH

v2: hint that --subject-prefix is required, fix typos

 doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst | 12 ++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+)

diff --git a/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst b/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
index 2287835f9..c077e341a 100644
--- a/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/contributing/patches.rst
@@ -450,6 +450,18 @@ Experienced committers may send patches directly with ``git send-email`` without
 The options ``--annotate`` and ``confirm = always`` are recommended for checking patches before sending.
 
 
+Backporting patches for Stable Releases
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Sometimes a maintainer or contributor wishes, or can be asked, to send a patch for a stable release
+rather than mainline. In this case the patch(es) should be sent to ``stable@dpdk.org``,
+not to ``dev@dpdk.org``.
+
+Given that there are multiple stable releases being maintained at the same time, please specify
+exactly which branch(es) the patch is for using ``git send-email --subject-prefix='PATCH 16.11' ...``
+and also optionally in the cover letter or in the annotation.
+
+
 The Review Process
 ------------------
 
-- 
2.14.2