Thunderbird woes, was: Re: patch submission process, was Re: [PATCH v6 06/16] merge_recursive: abort properly upon errors

Thunderbird woes, was: Re: patch submission process, was Re: [PATCH v6 06/16] merge_recursive: abort properly upon errors

[Jakub Narębski]

On 9 August 2016 at 10:11, Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> wrote:

> My own setup
> ============
>
> My usual MUA is Thunderbird because of its integration with calendars
> and address books. I usually read and post to mailing lists via
> nntp/gmane, that works best for me for several reasons (e.g. archive
> available when I need it).
>
> For git-ml, I had to learn early on to answer by e-mail to git-ml rather
> than by nntp-reply because proper nntp-replies somehow didn't meet the
> expectations of the e-mail users (double copies because of the cc-policy
> or such, I don't remember).

I use either KNode or Thunderbird with NNTP/Gmane, and I don't have
any problems when doing "Reply All" even if I forget to remove nntp-reply.
You should do reply-all anyway, because not everyone is subscribed,
and not everyone uses nntp-ml.

> I use git sendemail even for small throw-in patches because the git-ml
> does not allow attachments but wants patches (files) as in-line text,
> and Thunderbird possibly reformats text (because it's text, you know).

For some strange reason Thunderbird used as NNTP reader does not
screw up with whitespace, while Thunderbird used as email client does.
Al least it did last time I forgot to create new email in its NNTP reader.

Note that git-format-patch has Thunderbird subsection in the
"MUA specific hints" section.

> When I want to try out a proposed patch I have to "save message" and run
> git-am because patches don't come as file attachments on the git-ml
> (can't use "save/open attachment"+ git-apply) nor a PR (can't use git
> fetch nor view in browser).

Inline are preferred over attachment because it is easier to review
and comment on online patches. Anyway, it is the same amount of
steps, and git-am preserves commit message.

>                                        If it's a series, I have to do that for each
> invididual patch, which usually means I simply don't (or rely on Junio
> doing it and fetch his xy/topic branch).

I think you can save-all on the whole thread...

Best,
-- 
Jakub Narębski

Re: Thunderbird woes, was: Re: patch submission process, was Re: [PATCH v6 06/16] merge_recursive: abort properly upon errors

[Michael J Gruber]

Jakub Narębski venit, vidit, dixit 09.08.2016 10:24:
> On 9 August 2016 at 10:11, Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> wrote:
> 
>> My own setup
>> ============
>>
>> My usual MUA is Thunderbird because of its integration with calendars
>> and address books. I usually read and post to mailing lists via
>> nntp/gmane, that works best for me for several reasons (e.g. archive
>> available when I need it).
>>
>> For git-ml, I had to learn early on to answer by e-mail to git-ml rather
>> than by nntp-reply because proper nntp-replies somehow didn't meet the
>> expectations of the e-mail users (double copies because of the cc-policy
>> or such, I don't remember).
> 
> I use either KNode or Thunderbird with NNTP/Gmane, and I don't have
> any problems when doing "Reply All" even if I forget to remove nntp-reply.
> You should do reply-all anyway, because not everyone is subscribed,
> and not everyone uses nntp-ml.

There used to be a problem (many years ago), so let's see...

> 
>> I use git sendemail even for small throw-in patches because the git-ml
>> does not allow attachments but wants patches (files) as in-line text,
>> and Thunderbird possibly reformats text (because it's text, you know).
> 
> For some strange reason Thunderbird used as NNTP reader does not
> screw up with whitespace, while Thunderbird used as email client does.
> Al least it did last time I forgot to create new email in its NNTP reader.

You mean, "format fl[ao]wed" is not used when posting via NNTP? That
still wouldn't help with reply all.

> Note that git-format-patch has Thunderbird subsection in the
> "MUA specific hints" section.

I know, but that changes config (esp. wrap+flowed) for all e-mails. I
would be nice if using an external editor would turn off TB's mangling.

>> When I want to try out a proposed patch I have to "save message" and run
>> git-am because patches don't come as file attachments on the git-ml
>> (can't use "save/open attachment"+ git-apply) nor a PR (can't use git
>> fetch nor view in browser).
> 
> Inline are preferred over attachment because it is easier to review
> and comment on online patches. Anyway, it is the same amount of
> steps, and git-am preserves commit message.

I know why we do that, but attachments are there for a reason (stable
transport), and sending attached patches would be much easier for many
MUAs. It just shows that for nowadays usage of e-mail (not withstanding
Junio's historic remarks), using in-line text as a stable transport is
really "very special", to put it mildly.

>>                                        If it's a series, I have to do that for each
>> invididual patch, which usually means I simply don't (or rely on Junio
>> doing it and fetch his xy/topic branch).
> 
> I think you can save-all on the whole thread...

I'll definitely try, thanks.

Michael