new file mode 100644
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+// -*- mode:doc; -*-
+// vim: set syntax=asciidoc:
+
+== DEVELOPERS file and get-developers
+
+The main Buildroot directory contains a file named +DEVELOPERS+ that
+list the developers in charge of various areas of Buildroot. Thanks to
+this file, the +get-developer+ tool allows to:
+
+- Calculate the list of developers to whom patches should be sent, by
+ parsing the patches and matching the modified files with the
+ relevant developers. See xref:submitting-patches[] for details.
+
+- Find which developers are in charge of a given architecture or
+ package, so that they can be notified when a build failure occurs on
+ this architecture or package. This is done in interaction with
+ Buildroot's autobuild infrastructure.
+
+We ask developers adding new packages, new boards, or generally new
+functionality in Buildroot, to register themselves in the +DEVELOPERS+
+file. As an example, we expect a developer contributing a new package
+to include in his patch the appropriate modification to the
++DEVELOPERS+ file.
+
+The +DEVELOPERS+ file format is documented in detail inside the file
+itself.
+
+The +get-developer+ tool, located in +support/scripts+ allows to use
+the +DEVELOPERS+ file for various tasks:
+
+- When passing one or several patches as command line argument,
+ +get-developer+ will return the appropriate +git send-email+
+ command.
+
+- When using the +-a <arch>+ command line option, +get-developer+ will
+ return the list of developers in charge of the given architecture.
+
+- When using the +-p <package>+ command line option, +get-developer+
+ will return the list of developers in charge of the given package.
+
+- When using the +-c+ command line option, +get-developer+ will look
+ at all files under version control in the Buildroot repository, and
+ list the ones that are not handled by any developer. The purpose of
+ this option is to help completing the +DEVELOPERS+ file.
+
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ include::debugging-buildroot.txt[]
include::contribute.txt[]
+include::developers.txt[]
+
= Appendix
include::appendix.txt[]
Signed-off-by: Thomas Petazzoni <thomas.petazzoni@free-electrons.com> --- docs/manual/developers.txt | 45 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ docs/manual/manual.txt | 2 ++ 2 files changed, 47 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/manual/developers.txt