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

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

"Philip Oakley" <philipoakley@iee.org> writes:

> From: "Lars Schneider" <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>
>> ---
>
> I see there are currently 84 open PRs (13 in the last 14 days), so it
> is real.

Not so insignificant fraction of these are done purely for the
purpose of using submitgit, though.  In other words, if submitgit
were improved not to require a pull request against [1] (instead, it
could be pointed at a branch in a contributor's repository and do
the fromatting), these numbers will go down.

>> +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/ ?
>

I agree that I found the URL of the archive somewhat misleading for
those who want to contribute.  Giving the mailing list address makes
a lot more sense.  As suggested by Ævar in the thread, it would also
be good to suggest submitgit, given that the target audience of this
message was already prepared to throw a pull request at us.

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

Two minor issues here.

1. push the "read" outside [], i.e.

	Please read [<human readable name of the thing>](<URL for
	the thing>) to learn...

   as what is inside [] and what is inside () ought to be the moral
   equivalents.

2. the thing is not called "the maintainer notes"; it is called "A
   note from the maintainer". 

> 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.

I'd prefer [the k.org address](https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git/plain/MaintNotes?h=todo).

>> +project is managed, and how you can work with it. In addition, we
>> highly recommend you to [read our submission
>> guidelines](../Documentation/SubmittingPatches).

Again, push "read our" outside [].

Thanks.