HI,
I have created a driver to make use of multifunction RGB status Led's I'm just wondering on the best course for submission into Linux/ OpenWrt.
Am I best to submit to mainline Linux and back port or submit directly to OpenWrt repo?
I don't really know much about the mainline Linux submission process, and it sound like it can be a painful process taking a long time.
It's always better to send it upstream, so they take care of the driver in the long run (adjusting to subsystem changes). Backporting is then easier and the backport will be removed if we reach the kernel version the driver was introduced to. And that is the least work for OpenWrt maintainers. Of course if Your board is not supported in mainline You could be asked who will be the user of this driver. If the driver does not introduce any new device tree bindings, then the review should be fast, even if the driver is not following subsystem APIs properly, it will be pointed out. The most important thing is to properly send patch to all relevant maintainers and lists, scripts/get_maintainer.pl will list them. Right now the merge window closed, it's the best time to send it. Good luck.
P.S.
It's not that OpenWrt dev's will reject driver if it's not upstream, but the likelihood of acceptance is much higher if the driver is there.