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-rw-r--r--docs/manual/patch-policy.txt27
1 files changed, 14 insertions, 13 deletions
diff --git a/docs/manual/patch-policy.txt b/docs/manual/patch-policy.txt
index b65855edb..9bc6537ca 100644
--- a/docs/manual/patch-policy.txt
+++ b/docs/manual/patch-policy.txt
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
[[patch-policy]]
-Patch Policy
-------------
+Patching a package
+------------------
While integrating a new package or updating an existing one, it may be
necessary to patch the source of the software to get it cross-built within
@@ -16,15 +16,15 @@ and patches supplied within buildroot.
Providing patches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-Additional tarball
-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+Downloaded
+^^^^^^^^^^
-If it is necessary to apply a patch set available as a downloadable
-tarball, then add the patch tarball to the +<packagename>_PATCH+
-variable.
+If it is necessary to apply a patch that is available for download, then it
+to the +<packagename>_PATCH+ variable. It is downloaded from the same site
+as the package itself. It can be a single patch, or a tarball containing a
+patch series.
-Note that the patch tarballs are downloaded from the same site as the
-sources.
+This method is typically used for packages from Debian.
Within Buildroot
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
@@ -72,14 +72,15 @@ 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.
+You should add a +Signed-off-by+ statement in the header of the each
+patch to help with keeping track of the changes and to certify that the
+patch is released under the same license as the software that is modified.
If the software is under version control, it is recommended to use the
-SCM software to generate the patch set.
+upstream SCM software to generate the patch set.
Otherwise, concatenate the header with the output of the
-+diff -purN source.c.orig source.c+ command.
++diff -purN package-version.orig/ package-version/+ command.
At the end, the patch should look like: