[PATCH v1] Configure Git contribution guidelines for github.com

From: Lars Schneider <larsxschneider@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 9, 2017, 14:21 UTC
Message-ID: <20170609142151.94811-1-larsxschneider@gmail.com>

Many open source projects use github.com for their contribution process. Although we mirror the Git core repository to github.com [1] we do not use any other github.com service. This is unknown/unexpected to a number of (potential) contributors and consequently they create Pull Requests against our mirror with their contributions. These Pull Requests become stall [2]. This is frustrating to them as they think we ignore them and it is also unsatisfactory for us as we miss potential code improvements and/or new contributors.

GitHub offers a way to notify Pull Request contributors about the contribution guidelines for a project [3]. Let's make use of this!

[1] https://github.com/git/git [2] https://github.com/git/git/pulls [3] https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-pull-request-template-for-your-repository/

Signed-off-by: Lars Schneider <larsxschneider@gmail.com>
---

Hi,

I am perfectly aware that adding a ".github" directory in the Git core tree is ugly. However, I believe the benefits ("well informed new contributors") outweigh the injury.

You can see how a github.com Pull Request creation window would like here: https://github.com/larsxschneider/git/compare/master...larsxschneider-patch-1?quick_pull=1

I added a link that jumps to a part my GitMerge 2017 talk which explains Git core contributions from my point view. Although I tried my best, the presentation is not perfect and might not reflect the view of the Git community. I wouldn't have a problem at all with removing the link.

I also did not break the lines in the .github/*.md files as I thought it renders nicer on the github.com web interface. I am happy to change that, too, though.

Cheers, Lars

Notes:
    Base Ref: master
    Web-Diff: https://github.com/larsxschneider/git/commit/d859be5016
    Checkout: git fetch https://github.com/larsxschneider/git contrib-guide-v1 && git checkout d859be5016

 .github/CONTRIBUTING.md          | 10 ++++++++++
 .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md |  3 +++
 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 .github/CONTRIBUTING.md
 create mode 100644 .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

diff --git a/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8d01be6a71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+## Contributing to Git
+
+Thanks for taking the time to contribute to Git! Please be advised, that the Git community does not use github.com for their contributions. Instead, we use a [mailing list](http://public-inbox.org/git/) for code submissions, code reviews, and bug reports.
+
+Please [read the maintainer notes](http://repo.or.cz/w/git.git?a=blob_plain;f=MaintNotes;hb=todo) to learn how the Git
+project is managed, and how you can work with it. In addition, we highly recommend you to [read our submission guidelines](../Documentation/SubmittingPatches).
+
+If you prefer video, then [this talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7i_qQW__q4&feature=youtu.be&t=6m4s) might be useful to you as the presenter walks you through the contribution process by example.
+
+Your Git community
diff --git a/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c737a64620
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Thanks for taking the time to contribute to Git! Please be advised, that the Git community does not use github.com for their contributions. Instead, we use a mailing list for code submissions, code reviews, and bug reports.
+
+Please read the "guidelines for contributing" linked above!

base-commit: 8d1b10321b20bd2a73a5b561cfc3cf2e8051b70b
--
2.13.0