linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 2/3] docs: submitting-patches: clarify difference between Acked-by and Reviewed-by

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Message-ID: <20250113101544.527e157f@gandalf.local.home>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2025 10:15:44 -0500
From: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org>
To: Jani Nikula <jani.nikula@...el.com>
Cc: Neal Gompa <neal@...pa.dev>, Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@...nel.org>, Jonathan
 Corbet <corbet@....net>, workflows@...r.kernel.org,
 linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
 patches@...ts.linux.dev, Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@...gle.com>, Masahiro
 Yamada <masahiroy@...nel.org>, Luis Chamberlain <mcgrof@...nel.org>,
 tech-board@...ups.linuxfoundation.org, Greg Kroah-Hartman
 <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>, Linus Torvalds
 <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>, Shuah Khan <skhan@...uxfoundation.org>,
 Dan Williams <dan.j.williams@...el.com>, "Darrick J. Wong"
 <djwong@...nel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/3] docs: submitting-patches: clarify difference
 between Acked-by and Reviewed-by

On Mon, 13 Jan 2025 14:38:00 +0200
Jani Nikula <jani.nikula@...el.com> wrote:

> As a maintainer, I mostly use Acked-by for two slightly different cases:
> 
> 1) I've seen the patch. I have no objections to it being merged, I
>    approve of it. I haven't done a detailed review of it. Additionally,
>    I may indicate whether a detailed review (by someone else) is
>    required, or whether I think the ack is sufficient for merging.
> 
> 2) I'm fine with the patch to the area I maintain being merged via some
>    other maintainers' repositories. I may or may not have also given my
>    Reviewed-by in this case, which alone is not an approval to merge via
>    other trees.

Interesting. When I give a Reviewed-by: to a patch, I am most definitely
letting it be merged into other trees. For anything I pull in, I don't add
a Reviewed-by and will strip any tag that says I did review it as my
Signed-off-by includes that I reviewed the patch.

The difference I give between Acked-by and Reviewed-by is that my Acked-by
is "I don't see anything wrong with the idea of the change, and it can go
via another tree", where as a Reviewed-by is "I took time to understand the
change itself, and have not found anything wrong with it".

Basically, an Acked-by is "I took a quick look, and I'm OK with it, but if
it breaks something of mine, I expect you to fix it." and Reviewed-by is "I
took a deeper look, and if it breaks something of mine, I hold myself at
fault, and will fix it myself". ;-)

-- Steve