[PATCH] Documentation/MyFirstContribution: add setup template for git send-email

From: Vivan Garg <gvivan6@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 22, 2023, 01:13 UTC
Message-ID: <20230222011317.97943-1-gvivan6@gmail.com>

The doumentation under [[setup-git-send-email]] fails to describe what needs to be done with the SMTP server information. Although the email provider will tell you the specifics (such as the serverport), it must always be added to gitconfig. By adding this, a new contributor can simply find the information and insert it into the template, saving them the headache of figuring out what to do with the information. Therefore, add a template that describes what to do with the information obtained through the email provider.

Signed-off-by: Vivan Garg <gvivan6@gmail.com>
---
The commit subject line is over 50 columns long, but the file path takes 
up the majority of the space, which I thought was important because it 
shows that only the documentation is being edited.

The reason I felt compelled to include this is that, while it is simple to find the SMTP server information required from the email provider, it takes a little extra effort to figure out what to do with that information. However, because it must always be added to git config, making this change makes it easier for anyone to find which fields they need and what they need to do with the information.

 Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt b/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt
index ccfd0cb5f3..37fd416b29 100644
--- a/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt
+++ b/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt
@@ -999,9 +999,33 @@ provider, and so will not be covered in this tutorial, beyond stating that in
 many distributions of Linux, `git-send-email` is not packaged alongside the
 typical `git` install. You may need to install this additional package; there
 are a number of resources online to help you do so. You will also need to
-determine the right way to configure it to use your SMTP server; again, as this
-configuration can change significantly based on your system and email setup, it
-is out of scope for the context of this tutorial.
+determine the right way to configure it to use your SMTP server; this
+configuration can change significantly based on your system and email setup, 
+but at a minimum, you'll need to edit gitconfig and set the following 
+parameters:
+
+----
+$ vim ~/.gitconfig
+
+[sendemail]
+    smtpServer = smtp.gmail.com
+    smtpServerPort = 587
+    smtpEncryption = tls
+    smtpUser = my_email@gmail.com
+    # (Optional: we'll leave this commented out and use a different way)
+    # smtpPass = PASSWORD
+[credential]
+    helper = store
+----
+
+ . This example uses gmail as the email provider and the official data
+   available as of 21/02/2023. You should check the latest information for 
+   the email provider you intend to use (including gmail).
+   
+ . The `[credential] helper = store` tells git, when a user runs a git 
+   command that requires authentication, to store the credentials in a file
+   on the local machine so that the user does not have to enter them again 
+   in the future.
 
 [[format-patch]]
 === Preparing Initial Patchset

-- 
2.37.0 (Apple Git-136)