SubmittingPatches: describe cover letter

index dec8aea4cb..df9f722bfe 100644 --- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches +++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches @@ -472,6 +472,30 @@ highlighted above. Only capitalize the very first letter of the trailer, i.e. favor "Signed-off-by" over "Signed-Off-By" and "Acked-by:" over "Acked-By". +[[cover-letter]] +=== Cover Letter + +The purpose of your cover letter is to sell your changes, explain what +they are about, and get your target audience interested enough to read +the patches. + +. Every code change comes with risk of regression and maintenance cost. + The cover letter should clearly communicate why the value of your + proposed change is worth applying. You can also describe how the risk + is reduced by the design choices you made while writing the patches. + +. Make sure your target audience can understand what the patches are + about and why they are needed without prior context. + +. For a second or subsequent iteration of the same topic, make sure + people who missed the earlier discussion can still understand what + the patches are about, so they can judge if the topic is worth their + time to read and comment on. + +. To help those who are familiar with earlier iterations, give a + summary of changes since the previous rounds. + + [[ai]] === Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)