buildroot/docs/manual/patch-policy.txt

// -*- mode:doc; -*-

[[patch-policy]]

Patch Policy
------------

While integrating a new package or updating an existing one, it may be
necessary to patch the source of the software to get it built within
Buildroot.

Buildroot offers an infrastructure to automatically handle this during
the builds. It supports several ways of applying patch sets:

Providing patches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additional tarball
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If it is necessary to apply a patch set available as a downloadable
tarball, then add the patch tarball to the +<packagename>_PATCH+
variable.

Note that the patch tarballs are downloaded from the same site as the
sources.

Within Buildroot
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Most patches are provided within Buildroot, in the package
directory; these typically aim to fix cross-compilation, +libc+ support,
or other such issues.

These patch files should have the extension +*.patch+.

A +series+ file, as used by +quilt+, may also be added in the
package directory. In that case, the +series+ file defines the patch
application order.

How patches are applied
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

. Run the +<packagename>_PRE_PATCH_HOOKS+ commands if defined;

. Cleanup the build directory, removing any existing +*.rej+ files;

. If +<packagename>_PATCH+ is defined, then patches from these
  tarballs are applied;

. If there are some +*.patch+ files in the package directory or in the
  a package subdirectory named +<packagename>-<packageversion>+, then:
+
* If a +series+ file exists in the package directory, then patches are
  applied according to the +series+ file;
+
* Otherwise, patch files matching `<packagename>-*.patch` or
  `<packagename>-*.patch.<arch>` (where +<arch>+ is the architecture
  name) are applied following the +ls+ command order.

. Run the +<packagename>_POST_PATCH_HOOKS+ commands if defined.

If something goes wrong in the steps _3_ or _4_, then the build fails.

Format and licensing of the package patches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patches are released under the same license as the software that is
modified.

A message explaining what the patch does, and why it is needed, should
be added in the header commentary of the patch.

You should add a +signed-off-by+ statement in the header of the each
patch to help with keeping track of the changes.

If the software is under version control, it is recommended to use the
SCM software to generate the patch set.

Otherwise, concatenate the header with the output of the
+diff -purN source.c.orig source.c+ command.

At the end, the patch should look like:

---------------
configure.ac: add C++ support test

signed-off-by John Doe <john.doe@noname.org>

--- configure.ac.orig
+++ configure.ac
@@ -40,2 +40,12 @@

AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
+
+AC_CACHE_CHECK([whether the C++ compiler works],
+               [rw_cv_prog_cxx_works],
+               [AC_LANG_PUSH([C++])
+                AC_LINK_IFELSE([AC_LANG_PROGRAM([], [])],
+                               [rw_cv_prog_cxx_works=yes],
+                               [rw_cv_prog_cxx_works=no])
+                AC_LANG_POP([C++])])
+
+AM_CONDITIONAL([CXX_WORKS], [test "x$rw_cv_prog_cxx_works" = "xyes"])
---------------

Integrating patches found on the Web
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When integrating a patch of which you are not the author, you have to
add a few things in the header of the patch itself.

Depending on whether the patch has been obtained from the project
repository itself, or from somewhere on the web, add one of the
following tags:

---------------
Backported from: <some commit id>
---------------

or

---------------
Fetch from: <some url>
---------------

It is also sensible to add a few words about any changes to the patch
that may have been necessary.