Re: On pull request workflows for the GNU toolchain

Joseph Myers via Gdb
2024-09-20T20:48:32Z

On Fri, 20 Sep 2024, Matt Rice via Gcc wrote:

> To me though it is nice being able to edit the PR cover letter
> directly in the editor, and do the pull-request using command line
> tools.

In the common case of a single-commit PR without dependencies, it seems
reasonable to follow the practice that the commit message for the commit
pushed (to a branch from which the PR is created) is the same as the cover
letter / PR description (modulo any lines after "---" only being cover
letter text not intended to go in the final commit on mainline if the PR
is merged).

Having the ability to create a PR from the command line is desirable -
it's one part of having a sufficient API (indeed, if cron jobs that commit
do so via PRs that they self-merge rather than by direct pushes, they'll
need such an API). For people not wanting to install extra tools to
contribute, the web interface for creating a PR is also important.

For people without write access to the main repository to make PRs, the
"fork the repository and push to a branch in your fork" functionality of
forges is necessary, just as people can send a patch to the mailing lists
without having write access. (And quite likely such forks would be the
norm for people creating PRs even when they do have write access.)

--
Joseph S. Myers
josmyers@redhat.com