Hi!
There seems to be just one rule being observed: "It or an equivalent fix must already exist in Linus' tree (upstream).". Every other rule is broken pretty much all the time.
AUTOSEL is a problem.
Plus there's problem with dependencies -- if a patch A is need for fix B, the rules pretty much go out of the window, huge patches are applied, whitespace fixes are applied, etc.
There are even known-bad patches being applied, and then reverted. Greg explained that it heps his process somehow.
This seems to be a pretty consistent theme theme - thins are done baesd on whatever makes Greg's process easier, not input from the people stable ought to be working with. Pretty questionable set of priorities if you ask me.
Well, I'd not mind stable process following the documented rules.
But fixing the documentation to match the reality would also be an improvement, because some people actually read it and expect it to be followed.
Best regards, Pavel