summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/documentation/dev-manual/dev-manual-newbie.xml
blob: 27e1d0476158ff536dea8fef5b90e454a9e39158 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"
[<!ENTITY % poky SYSTEM "../poky.ent"> %poky; ] >

<chapter id='dev-manual-newbie'>

<title>The Yocto Project Open Source Development Environment</title>

<section id='submitting-a-defect-against-the-yocto-project'>
    <title>Submitting a Defect Against the Yocto Project</title>

    <para>
        Use the Yocto Project implementation of
        <ulink url='http://www.bugzilla.org/about/'>Bugzilla</ulink>
        to submit a defect (bug) against the Yocto Project.
        For additional information on this implementation of Bugzilla see the
        "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#resources-bugtracker'>Yocto Project Bugzilla</ulink>"
        section in the Yocto Project Reference Manual.
        For more detail on any of the following steps, see the Yocto Project
        <ulink url='&YOCTO_WIKI_URL;/wiki/Bugzilla_Configuration_and_Bug_Tracking'>Bugzilla wiki page</ulink>.
    </para>

    <para>
        Use the following general steps to submit a bug"

        <orderedlist>
            <listitem><para>
                Open the Yocto Project implementation of
                <ulink url='&YOCTO_BUGZILLA_URL;'>Bugzilla</ulink>.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Click "File a Bug" to enter a new bug.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Choose the appropriate "Classification", "Product", and
                "Component" for which the bug was found.
                Bugs for the Yocto Project fall into one of several
                classifications, which in turn break down into several
                products and components.
                For example, for a bug against the
                <filename>meta-intel</filename> layer, you would choose
                "Build System, Metadata &amp; Runtime", "BSPs", and
                "bsps-meta-intel", respectively.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Choose the "Version" of the Yocto Project for which you found
                the bug (e.g. &DISTRO;).
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Determine and select the "Severity" of the bug.
                The severity indicates how the bug impacted your work.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Choose the "Hardware" that the bug impacts.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Choose the "Architecture" that the bug impacts.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Choose a "Documentation change" item for the bug.
                Fixing a bug might or might not affect the Yocto Project
                documentation.
                If you are unsure of the impact to the documentation, select
                "Don't Know".
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Provide a brief "Summary" of the bug.
                Try to limit your summary to just a line or two and be sure
                to capture the essence of the bug.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Provide a detailed "Description" of the bug.
                You should provide as much detail as you can about the context,
                behavior, output, and so forth that surrounds the bug.
                You can even attach supporting files for output from logs by
                using the "Add an attachment" button.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                Click the "Submit Bug" button submit the bug.
                A new Bugzilla number is assigned to the bug and the defect
                is logged in the bug tracking system.
                </para></listitem>
        </orderedlist>
        Once you file a bug, the bug is processed by the Yocto Project Bug
        Triage Team and further details concerning the bug are assigned
        (e.g. priority and owner).
        You are the "Submitter" of the bug and any further categorization,
        progress, or comments on the bug result in Bugzilla sending you an
        automated email concerning the particular change or progress to the
        bug.
    </para>
</section>

<section id='how-to-submit-a-change'>
    <title>Submitting a Change to the Yocto Project</title>

    <para>
        Contributions to the Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded are very welcome.
        Because the system is extremely configurable and flexible, we recognize
        that developers will want to extend, configure or optimize it for
        their specific uses.
    </para>

    <para>
        The Yocto Project uses a mailing list and a patch-based workflow
        that is similar to the Linux kernel but contains important
        differences.
        In general, a mailing list exists through which you can submit
        patches.
        You should send patches to the appropriate mailing list so that they
        can be reviewed and merged by the appropriate maintainer.
        The specific mailing list you need to use depends on the
        location of the code you are changing.
        Each component (e.g. layer) should have a
        <filename>README</filename> file that indicates where to send
        the changes and which process to follow.
    </para>

    <para>
        You can send the patch to the mailing list using whichever approach
        you feel comfortable with to generate the patch.
        Once sent, the patch is usually reviewed by the community at large.
        If somebody has concerns with the patch, they will usually voice
        their concern over the mailing list.
        If a patch does not receive any negative reviews, the maintainer of
        the affected layer typically takes the patch, tests it, and then
        based on successful testing, merges the patch.
    </para>

    <para id='figuring-out-the-mailing-list-to-use'>
        The "poky" repository, which is the Yocto Project's reference build
        environment, is a hybrid repository that contains several
        individual pieces (e.g. BitBake, Metadata, documentation,
        and so forth) built using the combo-layer tool.
        The upstream location used for submitting changes varies by
        component:
        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem><para>
                <emphasis>Core Metadata:</emphasis>
                Send your patch to the
                <ulink url='http://lists.openembedded.org/mailman/listinfo/openembedded-core'>openembedded-core</ulink>
                mailing list.  For example, a change to anything under
                the <filename>meta</filename> or
                <filename>scripts</filename> directories should be sent
                to this mailing list.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                <emphasis>BitBake:</emphasis>
                For changes to BitBake (i.e. anything under the
                <filename>bitbake</filename> directory), send your patch
                to the
                <ulink url='http://lists.openembedded.org/mailman/listinfo/bitbake-devel'>bitbake-devel</ulink>
                mailing list.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                <emphasis>"meta-*" trees:</emphasis>
                These trees contain Metadata.
                Use the
                <ulink url='https://lists.yoctoproject.org/listinfo/poky'>poky</ulink>
                mailing list.
                </para></listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
    </para>

    <para>
        For changes to other layers hosted in the Yocto Project source
        repositories (i.e. <filename>yoctoproject.org</filename>), tools,
        and the Yocto Project documentation, use the
        <ulink url='https://lists.yoctoproject.org/listinfo/yocto'>Yocto Project</ulink>
        general mailing list.
        <note>
            Sometimes a layer's documentation specifies to use a
            particular mailing list.
            If so, use that list.
        </note>
        For additional recipes that do not fit into the core Metadata, you
        should determine which layer the recipe should go into and submit
        the change in the manner recommended by the documentation (e.g.
        the <filename>README</filename> file) supplied with the layer.
        If in doubt, please ask on the Yocto general mailing list or on
        the openembedded-devel mailing list.
    </para>

    <para>
        You can also push a change upstream and request a maintainer to
        pull the change into the component's upstream repository.
        You do this by pushing to a contribution repository that is upstream.
        See the
        "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_OM_URL;#gs-git-workflows-and-the-yocto-project'>Git Workflows and the Yocto Project</ulink>"
        section in the Yocto Project Overview and Concepts Manual for additional
        concepts on working in the Yocto Project development environment.
    </para>

    <para>
        Two commonly used testing repositories exist for
        OpenEmbedded-Core:
        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem><para>
                <emphasis>"ross/mut" branch:</emphasis>
                The "mut" (master-under-test) tree
                exists in the <filename>poky-contrib</filename> repository
                in the
                <ulink url='&YOCTO_GIT_URL;'>Yocto Project source repositories</ulink>.
                </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                <emphasis>"master-next" branch:</emphasis>
                This branch is part of the main
                "poky" repository in the Yocto Project source repositories.
                </para></listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
        Maintainers use these branches to test submissions prior to merging
        patches.
        Thus, you can get an idea of the status of a patch based on
        whether the patch has been merged into one of these branches.
        <note>
            This system is imperfect and changes can sometimes get lost in the
            flow.
            Asking about the status of a patch or change is reasonable if the
            change has been idle for a while with no feedback.
            The Yocto Project does have plans to use
            <ulink url='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patchwork_(software)'>Patchwork</ulink>
            to track the status of patches and also to automatically preview
            patches.
        </note>
    </para>

    <para>
        The following sections provide procedures for submitting a change.
    </para>

    <section id='pushing-a-change-upstream'>
        <title>Using Scripts to Push a Change Upstream and Request a Pull</title>

        <para>
            Follow this procedure to push a change to an upstream "contrib"
            Git repository:
            <note>
                You can find general Git information on how to push a change
                upstream in the
                <ulink url='http://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Distributed-Git-Distributed-Workflows'>Git Community Book</ulink>.
            </note>
            <orderedlist>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Make Your Changes Locally:</emphasis>
                    Make your changes in your local Git repository.
                    You should make small, controlled, isolated changes.
                    Keeping changes small and isolated aids review,
                    makes merging/rebasing easier and keeps the change
                    history clean should anyone need to refer to it in
                    future.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Stage Your Changes:</emphasis>
                    Stage your changes by using the <filename>git add</filename>
                    command on each file you changed.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para id='making-sure-you-have-correct-commit-information'>
                    <emphasis>Commit Your Changes:</emphasis>
                    Commit the change by using the
                    <filename>git commit</filename> command.
                    Make sure your commit information follows standards by
                    following these accepted conventions:
                    <itemizedlist>
                        <listitem><para>
                            Be sure to include a "Signed-off-by:" line in the
                            same style as required by the Linux kernel.
                            Adding this line signifies that you, the submitter,
                            have agreed to the Developer's Certificate of
                            Origin 1.1 as follows:
                            <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     Developer's Certificate of Origin 1.1

     By making a contribution to this project, I certify that:

     (a) The contribution was created in whole or in part by me and I
         have the right to submit it under the open source license
         indicated in the file; or

     (b) The contribution is based upon previous work that, to the best
         of my knowledge, is covered under an appropriate open source
         license and I have the right under that license to submit that
         work with modifications, whether created in whole or in part
         by me, under the same open source license (unless I am
         permitted to submit under a different license), as indicated
         in the file; or

     (c) The contribution was provided directly to me by some other
         person who certified (a), (b) or (c) and I have not modified
         it.

     (d) I understand and agree that this project and the contribution
         are public and that a record of the contribution (including all
         personal information I submit with it, including my sign-off) is
         maintained indefinitely and may be redistributed consistent with
         this project or the open source license(s) involved.
                            </literallayout>
                            </para></listitem>
                        <listitem><para>
                            Provide a single-line summary of the change.
                            and,
                            if more explanation is needed, provide more
                            detail in the body of the commit.
                            This summary is typically viewable in the
                            "shortlist" of changes.
                            Thus, providing something short and descriptive
                            that gives the reader a summary of the change is
                            useful when viewing a list of many commits.
                            You should prefix this short description with the
                            recipe name (if changing a recipe), or else with
                            the short form path to the file being changed.
                            </para></listitem>
                        <listitem><para>
                            For the body of the commit message, provide
                            detailed information that describes what you
                            changed, why you made the change, and the approach
                            you used.
                            It might also be helpful if you mention how you
                            tested the change.
                            Provide as much detail as you can in the body of
                            the commit message.
                            <note>
                                You do not need to provide a more detailed
                                explanation of a change if the change is
                                minor to the point of the single line
                                summary providing all the information.
                            </note>
                            </para></listitem>
                        <listitem><para>
                            If the change addresses a specific bug or issue
                            that is associated with a bug-tracking ID,
                            include a reference to that ID in your detailed
                            description.
                            For example, the Yocto Project uses a specific
                            convention for bug references - any commit that
                            addresses a specific bug should use the following
                            form for the detailed description.
                            Be sure to use the actual bug-tracking ID from
                            Bugzilla for
                            <replaceable>bug-id</replaceable>:
                            <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     Fixes [YOCTO #<replaceable>bug-id</replaceable>]

     <replaceable>detailed description of change</replaceable>
                            </literallayout>
                            </para></listitem>
                    </itemizedlist>
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Push Your Commits to a "Contrib" Upstream:</emphasis>
                    If you have arranged for permissions to push to an
                    upstream contrib repository, push the change to that
                    repository:
                    <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ git push <replaceable>upstream_remote_repo</replaceable> <replaceable>local_branch_name</replaceable>
                    </literallayout>
                    For example, suppose you have permissions to push into the
                    upstream <filename>meta-intel-contrib</filename>
                    repository and you are working in a local branch named
                    <replaceable>your_name</replaceable><filename>/README</filename>.
                    The following command pushes your local commits to the
                    <filename>meta-intel-contrib</filename> upstream
                    repository and puts the commit in a branch named
                    <replaceable>your_name</replaceable><filename>/README</filename>:
                    <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ git push meta-intel-contrib <replaceable>your_name</replaceable>/README
                    </literallayout>
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para id='push-determine-who-to-notify'>
                    <emphasis>Determine Who to Notify:</emphasis>
                    Determine the maintainer or the mailing list
                    that you need to notify for the change.</para>

                    <para>Before submitting any change, you need to be sure
                    who the maintainer is or what mailing list that you need
                    to notify.
                    Use either these methods to find out:
                    <itemizedlist>
                        <listitem><para>
                            <emphasis>Maintenance File:</emphasis>
                            Examine the <filename>maintainers.inc</filename>
                            file, which is located in the
                            <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#source-directory'>Source Directory</ulink>
                            at
                            <filename>meta/conf/distro/include</filename>,
                            to see who is responsible for code.
                            </para></listitem>
                        <listitem><para>
                            <emphasis>Search by File:</emphasis>
                            Using <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_OM_URL;#git'>Git</ulink>,
                            you can enter the following command to bring up a
                            short list of all commits against a specific file:
                            <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     git shortlog -- <replaceable>filename</replaceable>
                            </literallayout>
                            Just provide the name of the file for which you
                            are interested.
                            The information returned is not ordered by history
                            but does include a list of everyone who has
                            committed grouped by name.
                            From the list, you can see who is responsible for
                            the bulk of the changes against the file.
                            </para></listitem>
                        <listitem><para>
                            <emphasis>Examine the List of Mailing Lists:</emphasis>
                            For a list of the Yocto Project and related mailing
                            lists, see the
                            "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#resources-mailinglist'>Mailing lists</ulink>"
                            section in the Yocto Project Reference Manual.
                            </para></listitem>
                    </itemizedlist>
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Make a Pull Request:</emphasis>
                    Notify the maintainer or the mailing list that you have
                    pushed a change by making a pull request.</para>

                    <para>The Yocto Project provides two scripts that
                    conveniently let you generate and send pull requests to the
                    Yocto Project.
                    These scripts are <filename>create-pull-request</filename>
                    and <filename>send-pull-request</filename>.
                    You can find these scripts in the
                    <filename>scripts</filename> directory within the
                    <ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#source-directory'>Source Directory</ulink>
                    (e.g. <filename>~/poky/scripts</filename>).
                    </para>

                    <para>Using these scripts correctly formats the requests
                    without introducing any whitespace or HTML formatting.
                    The maintainer that receives your patches either directly
                    or through the mailing list needs to be able to save and
                    apply them directly from your emails.
                    Using these scripts is the preferred method for sending
                    patches.</para>

                    <para>First, create the pull request.
                    For example, the following command runs the script,
                    specifies the upstream repository in the contrib directory
                    into which you pushed the change, and provides a subject
                    line in the created patch files:
                    <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ ~/poky/scripts/create-pull-request -u meta-intel-contrib -s "Updated Manual Section Reference in README"
                    </literallayout>
                    Running this script forms
                    <filename>*.patch</filename> files in a folder named
                    <filename>pull-</filename><replaceable>PID</replaceable>
                    in the current directory.
                    One of the patch files is a cover letter.</para>

                    <para>Before running the
                    <filename>send-pull-request</filename> script, you must
                    edit the cover letter patch to insert information about
                    your change.
                    After editing the cover letter, send the pull request.
                    For example, the following command runs the script and
                    specifies the patch directory and email address.
                    In this example, the email address is a mailing list:
                    <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ ~/poky/scripts/send-pull-request -p ~/meta-intel/pull-10565 -t meta-intel@yoctoproject.org
                    </literallayout>
                    You need to follow the prompts as the script is
                    interactive.
                    <note>
                        For help on using these scripts, simply provide the
                        <filename>-h</filename> argument as follows:
                        <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ poky/scripts/create-pull-request -h
     $ poky/scripts/send-pull-request -h
                        </literallayout>
                    </note>
                    </para></listitem>
            </orderedlist>
        </para>
    </section>

    <section id='submitting-a-patch'>
        <title>Using Email to Submit a Patch</title>

        <para>
            You can submit patches without using the
            <filename>create-pull-request</filename> and
            <filename>send-pull-request</filename> scripts described in the
            previous section.
            However, keep in mind, the preferred method is to use the scripts.
        </para>

        <para>
            Depending on the components changed, you need to submit the email
            to a specific mailing list.
            For some guidance on which mailing list to use, see the
            <link linkend='figuring-out-the-mailing-list-to-use'>list</link>
            at the beginning of this section.
            For a description of all the available mailing lists, see the
            "<ulink url='&YOCTO_DOCS_REF_URL;#resources-mailinglist'>Mailing Lists</ulink>"
            section in the Yocto Project Reference Manual.
        </para>

        <para>
            Here is the general procedure on how to submit a patch through
            email without using the scripts:
            <orderedlist>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Make Your Changes Locally:</emphasis>
                    Make your changes in your local Git repository.
                    You should make small, controlled, isolated changes.
                    Keeping changes small and isolated aids review,
                    makes merging/rebasing easier and keeps the change
                    history clean should anyone need to refer to it in
                    future.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Stage Your Changes:</emphasis>
                    Stage your changes by using the <filename>git add</filename>
                    command on each file you changed.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Commit Your Changes:</emphasis>
                    Commit the change by using the
                    <filename>git commit --signoff</filename> command.
                    Using the <filename>--signoff</filename> option identifies
                    you as the person making the change and also satisfies
                    the Developer's Certificate of Origin (DCO) shown earlier.
                    </para>

                    <para>When you form a commit, you must follow certain
                    standards established by the Yocto Project development
                    team.
                    See
                    <link linkend='making-sure-you-have-correct-commit-information'>Step 3</link>
                    in the previous section for information on how to
                    provide commit information that meets Yocto Project
                    commit message standards.
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Format the Commit:</emphasis>
                    Format the commit into an email message.
                    To format commits, use the
                    <filename>git format-patch</filename> command.
                    When you provide the command, you must include a revision
                    list or a number of patches as part of the command.
                    For example, either of these two commands takes your most
                    recent single commit and formats it as an email message in
                    the current directory:
                    <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ git format-patch -1
                    </literallayout>
                    or
                    <literallayout class='monospaced'>
     $ git format-patch HEAD~
                    </literallayout></para>

                    <para>After the command is run, the current directory
                    contains a numbered <filename>.patch</filename> file for
                    the commit.</para>

                    <para>If you provide several commits as part of the
                    command, the <filename>git format-patch</filename> command
                    produces a series of numbered files in the current
                    directory – one for each commit.
                    If you have more than one patch, you should also use the
                    <filename>--cover</filename> option with the command,
                    which generates a cover letter as the first "patch" in
                    the series.
                    You can then edit the cover letter to provide a
                    description for the series of patches.
                    For information on the
                    <filename>git format-patch</filename> command,
                    see <filename>GIT_FORMAT_PATCH(1)</filename> displayed
                    using the <filename>man git-format-patch</filename>
                    command.
                    <note>
                        If you are or will be a frequent contributor to the
                        Yocto Project or to OpenEmbedded, you might consider
                        requesting a contrib area and the necessary associated
                        rights.
                    </note>
                    </para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>
                    <emphasis>Import the Files Into Your Mail Client:</emphasis>
                    Import the files into your mail client by using the
                    <filename>git send-email</filename> command.
                    <note>
                        In order to use <filename>git send-email</filename>,
                        you must have the proper Git packages installed on
                        your host.
                        For Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora the package is
                        <filename>git-email</filename>.
                    </note></para>

                    <para>The <filename>git send-email</filename> command
                    sends email by using a local or remote Mail Transport Agent
                    (MTA) such as <filename>msmtp</filename>,
                    <filename>sendmail</filename>, or through a direct
                    <filename>smtp</filename> configuration in your Git
                    <filename>~/.gitconfig</filename> file.
                    If you are submitting patches through email only, it is
                    very important that you submit them without any whitespace
                    or HTML formatting that either you or your mailer
                    introduces.
                    The maintainer that receives your patches needs to be able
                    to save and apply them directly from your emails.
                    A good way to verify that what you are sending will be
                    applicable by the maintainer is to do a dry run and send
                    them to yourself and then save and apply them as the
                    maintainer would.</para>

                    <para>The <filename>git send-email</filename> command is
                    the preferred method for sending your patches using
                    email since there is no risk of compromising whitespace
                    in the body of the message, which can occur when you use
                    your own mail client.
                    The command also has several options that let you
                    specify recipients and perform further editing of the
                    email message.
                    For information on how to use the
                    <filename>git send-email</filename> command,
                    see <filename>GIT-SEND-EMAIL(1)</filename> displayed using
                    the <filename>man git-send-email</filename> command.
                    </para></listitem>
            </orderedlist>
        </para>
    </section>
</section>
</chapter>
<!--
vim: expandtab tw=80 ts=4
-->