git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

[PATCH v2 1/3] Documentation/MyFirstContribution: recommend shallow threading

From
Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Date
Jun 3, 2026, 06:58 UTC
Message-ID
<20260603-pks-b4-v2-1-a8aea0aa2c23@pks.im>
In-Reply-To
<20260603-pks-b4-v2-0-a8aea0aa2c23@pks.im>

The "MyFirstContribution" document recommends the use of deep threading: every cover letter of subsequent iterations shall be linked to the cover letter of the preceding version. The result of this is that eventually, threads with many versions are getting nested so deep that it becomes hard to follow.

Adapt the recommendation to instead propose shallow threading: instead of linking the cover letter to the previous cover letter, the user is supposed to always link it to the first cover letter. This still makes it easy to follow the iterations, but has the benefit of nesting to a much shallower level.

Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
---
 Documentation/MyFirstContribution.adoc | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.adoc b/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.adoc
index b9fdefce02..069020196c 100644
--- a/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/MyFirstContribution.adoc
@@ -1227,8 +1227,8 @@ Message-ID: <foo.12345.author@example.com>
 
 Your Message-ID is `<foo.12345.author@example.com>`. This example will be used
 below as well; make sure to replace it with the correct Message-ID for your
-**previous cover letter** - that is, if you're sending v2, use the Message-ID
-from v1; if you're sending v3, use the Message-ID from v2.
+**first cover letter** - that is, for any subsequent version that you send,
+always use the Message-ID from v1.
 
 While you're looking at the email, you should also note who is CC'd, as it's
 common practice in the mailing list to keep all CCs on a thread. You can add
-- 
2.54.0.1064.gd145956f57.dirty
Previous: Patrick SteinhardtNext: Tuomas Ahola
Message 25 of 54 in “Documentation: recommend the use of b4”
  1. 0/2 Documentation: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 2, 2026
  2. 1/2 b4: introduce configuration for the Git projectPatrick Steinhardt, Jun 2, 2026
  3. Junio C HamanoJun 2, 2026
  4. Patrick SteinhardtJun 2, 2026
  5. Ramsay JonesJun 2, 2026
  6. Junio C HamanoJun 3, 2026
  7. Patrick SteinhardtJun 3, 2026
  8. Tuomas AholaJun 2, 2026
  9. Weijie YuanJun 3, 2026
  10. Patrick SteinhardtJun 3, 2026
  11. Weijie YuanJun 3, 2026
  12. Weijie YuanJun 3, 2026
  13. SZEDER GáborJun 3, 2026
  14. Weijie YuanJun 3, 2026
  15. Tuomas AholaJun 3, 2026
  16. Junio C HamanoJun 4, 2026
  17. Patrick SteinhardtJun 8, 2026
  18. Patrick SteinhardtJun 8, 2026
  19. 2/2 Documentation/MyFirstContribution: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 2, 2026
  20. Weijie YuanJun 2, 2026
  21. Patrick SteinhardtJun 3, 2026
  22. Weijie YuanJun 3, 2026
  23. Weijie YuanJun 3, 2026
  24. 0/3 Documentation: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 3, 2026
  25. 1/3 Documentation/MyFirstContribution: recommend shallow threadingPatrick Steinhardt, Jun 3, 2026
  26. Tuomas AholaJun 3, 2026
  27. Patrick SteinhardtJun 8, 2026
  28. Weijie YuanJun 3, 2026
  29. Patrick SteinhardtJun 8, 2026
  30. Weijie YuanJun 8, 2026
  31. Kristoffer HaugsbakkJun 3, 2026
  32. Patrick SteinhardtJun 8, 2026
  33. 2/3 Documentation/MyFirstContribution: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 3, 2026
  34. Toon ClaesJun 4, 2026
  35. Patrick SteinhardtJun 8, 2026
  36. 3/3 b4: introduce configuration for the Git projectPatrick Steinhardt, Jun 3, 2026
  37. Toon ClaesJun 3, 2026
  38. Patrick SteinhardtJun 8, 2026
  39. 0/3 Documentation: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 8, 2026
  40. 1/3 MyFirstContribution: recommend shallow threading of cover lettersPatrick Steinhardt, Jun 8, 2026
  41. Karthik NayakJun 10, 2026
  42. Patrick SteinhardtJun 15, 2026
  43. 2/3 MyFirstContribution: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 8, 2026
  44. 3/3 b4: introduce configuration for the Git projectPatrick Steinhardt, Jun 8, 2026
  45. Karthik NayakJun 10, 2026
  46. Patrick SteinhardtJun 15, 2026
  47. Toon ClaesJun 9, 2026
  48. Junio C HamanoJun 9, 2026
  49. Patrick SteinhardtJun 10, 2026
  50. 0/3 Documentation: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 15, 2026
  51. 1/3 MyFirstContribution: recommend shallow threading of cover lettersPatrick Steinhardt, Jun 15, 2026
  52. 2/3 MyFirstContribution: recommend the use of b4Patrick Steinhardt, Jun 15, 2026
  53. 3/3 b4: introduce configuration for the Git projectPatrick Steinhardt, Jun 15, 2026
  54. Toon ClaesJun 16, 2026

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.