Re: [MAINTAINERS SUMMIT] Hidden commits from next (aka why maintainers hoard them in backpack)

On 11/09/2025 13:04, Krzysztof Kozlowski wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 
> I have noticed at least a few cases where sub-maintainers collect
> patches, but their trees are not included linux-next. Or their patches
> are not fed to linux-next.
> 
> I don’t see a good reason to keep valid, proper patches - collected by
> trusted sub-maintainers and intended for upstream submission - out of
> linux-next. If a sub-maintainer is trusted in collecting patches and
> sending them to the upstream maintainer, these commits should be visible
> in the linux-next.
> 
> I have occasionally asked sub-maintainers to add their trees to the
> linux-next, and sometimes this worked. In other cases it could not work
> for various reasons, e.g. workflow of the upstream maintainer or
> reluctance to share commits early. These reasons are what I would like
> to discuss and, hopefully, improve.
> 
> 
> Why is that a problem?
> ======================
> Patch was reviewed on the list day X and applied by the sub-maintainer.


https://lwn.net/Articles/1050027/

I am very happy that the topic proposal I submitted in September for
this maintainer's summit got some traction and lead to actual
discussion. Nice to know that this was an useful email/proposal and that
the problem is important enough to discuss it.

Best regards,
Krzysztof