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

From: Philip Oakley <philipoakley@iee.org>
Date: Jun 10, 2017, 12:48 UTC
Message-ID: <31A456B20D984421AA958A39B2FCD29D@PhilipOakley>
In-Reply-To: <20170609142151.94811-1-larsxschneider@gmail.com>

From: "Lars Schneider" <larsxschneider@gmail.com>

Show 19 quoted lines

> 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>
> ---

I see there are currently 84 open PRs (13 in the last 14 days), so it is real.

I also see that the Issues page for git.git appears to be disabled, and will redirect to the pulls page.

Maybe the instructions should also be part of an Issues template which could reduce the potential number of PRs being created (but could create its own problems)

Show 47 quoted lines

>
> 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.

Isn't the mailing list git@vger.kernel.org, with an archive at http://public-inbox.org/git/ ?

> +
> +Please [read the maintainer 
> notes](http://repo.or.cz/w/git.git?a=blob_plain;f=MaintNotes;hb=todo) to 
> learn how the Git

Is using the repo.or.cz address deliberate as a way of highlighting that Github isn't the centre of the universe when accessing a DVCS repo?

Maybe the kernel.org repo should be first, or at least the alt-git.git repo at repo.or.cz listed in those same notes.

Show 28 quoted lines

> +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
>

It's still a good idea though. -- Philip