Re: submitting contributions

[Pádraig Brady]

On 07/04/2021 18:36, Carl Edquist wrote:
> Greetings Coreutils maintainers!
>
> I have a few small contributions I am interested to submit to Coreutils.
>
> Since I'm new to the list, I'd like to ask if there are any etiquette
> things I should have in mind going about this.
>
> I have read over the HACKING document, but I am still a little fuzzy about
> what the process looks like to submit a patch to the list.  It discusses
> running 'git format-patch', but it's not clear if the patch output should
> be included in-line in the email, or as an attachment.  Basically, what
> does the normal process look like once I have a commit ready to submit?
>
> And, is it OK to include a longer discussion in the email about the
> changes, besides what's in the commit message itself?

A `git format-patch` attached to an email is easiest to apply
and test locally.

Generally emails would be more verbose when discussing patches.
As for the commits themselves my rule of thumb for the commit message is:


  reason for change limited to 70 chars or so (the why)

  Optional short paragraph giving an overview of the change.
  Usually this is only included for new features / substantial changes,
  that require some context.

  * file_name_1 (where): what has changed (the what)
  * file_name_n (where): Likewise.


cheers,
Pádraig