. You get comments and suggestions for improvements. You may even get
them in an "on top of your change" patch form. You are expected to
- respond to them with "Reply-All" on the mailing list, while taking
- them into account while preparing an updated set of patches.
+ respond to them with "Reply-All" on the mailing list, instead of
+ letting an updated patch series be your only response. Tell
+ reviewers which suggestions you plan to use, which ones you disagree
+ with, and when a comment leads you to consider a different approach.
+ Use these replies and any follow-up discussion as input when
+ preparing an updated set of patches.
+
+Be particularly mindful of critiques regarding the high-level design
+or viability of your proposal (e.g., questioning if the feature is
+worth implementing, or if the chosen approach is appropriate). Defend
+your design decisions on the list first and work with reviewers and
+other members to improve the design before revising the implementation.
+This will avoid wasting effort on an implementation before its design is
+solid.
++
+Make sure that any new version explains and justifies those design
+decisions more clearly, in the cover letter and in the revised commit
+messages. Aim to make the reviewers say "it is now clear why we may
+want to do this with the updated version".
++
+Topics with unresolved fundamental design critiques will not be
+considered ready for merging.
++
It is often beneficial to allow some time for reviewers to provide
feedback before sending a new version, rather than sending an updated
series immediately after receiving a review. This helps collect broader
series. To that end, send them as replies to either an additional "cover
letter" message (see below), the first patch, or the respective preceding patch.
Here is a link:MyFirstContribution.html#v2-git-send-email[step-by-step guide] on
- how to submit updated versions of a patch series.
+ how to submit updated versions of a patch series. Before sending another
+ version, make sure you have answered meaningful review comments in the existing
+ discussion. Also give reviewers enough time to comment before sending another
+ version.
If your log message (including your name on the
-`Signed-off-by` trailer) is not writable in ASCII, make sure that
+`Signed-off-by:` trailer) is not writable in ASCII, make sure that
you send off a message in the correct encoding.
WARNING: Be wary of your MUAs word-wrap