changeset 12898:2054ffe13177

Explain how to handle big patches and why uploading patches is bad.

--- a/DOCS/tech/patches.txt	Sun Jul 25 15:57:22 2004 +0000
+++ b/DOCS/tech/patches.txt	Mon Jul 26 00:52:56 2004 +0000
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
  4. Read your patch. We'll *refuse* it if it changes indentation of the
     code or if it does tab/space conversion or other cosmetical changes!
 
-    NOTE: If you alread wrote some code and did cosmetic changes, you can
+    NOTE: If you already wrote some code and did cosmetic changes, you can
     use 'diff -uwbBE' to help you remove them. Don't forget to check the
     patch to make sure diff didn't ignore some important change and remove
     any remaining cosmetics!
@@ -46,7 +46,10 @@
     speak several languages you are of course welcome to update some of the
     translations as well.
 
- 7. Send your patch to the mplayer-dev-eng mailing list as a base64-encoded
+ 7. If your patch is very big, try splitting it into several self-contained
+    pieces. Each part can then be reviewed and committed separately.
+
+ 8. Send your patch to the mplayer-dev-eng mailing list as a base64-encoded
     attachment with the subject line:
     '[PATCH] very short description of the patch'.
     In the mail, describe in a few sentences what you change and why.
@@ -61,24 +64,29 @@
     the developers on the list. We want you to be available for discussing
     your code, you might be asked to make modifications before we accept it.
     Don't worry, mplayer-dev-eng is not high traffic and you can subscribe
-    with the nomail option if you do not wish to receive all the mails.
+    but unset the "Mail delivery" option so that you can post without getting
+    any mails.
+    Try to avoid uploading the patch to a web or FTP site, send it directly
+    to the mailing list. The less steps it takes us to get at the patch the
+    higher the likelihood for it to get reviewed and applied. If your patch
+    is so big you cannot send it by mail, try splitting it into pieces.
 
- 8. Give us a few days to react. We try to review patches as fast as possible,
+ 9. Give us a few days to react. We try to review patches as fast as possible,
     but unfortunately we are constantly overloaded with work, be it MPlayer
     related or from our day to day lives. If your patch seems to be ignored,
     please resend it and mention that you got ignored. We are interested in
     your work and will eventually either accept it or reject it with an
     explanation of what we disliked about your patch.
 
- 9. Do not immediately ask for CVS write access. If you contributed one or
+10. Do not immediately ask for CVS write access. If you contributed one or
     more nice, acceptable patches and they need maintaining or you want to
     be an MPlayer developer, you'll get CVS write access.
 
-10. For consistency reasons all option names must use '-' instead of '_'.
+11. For consistency reasons all option names must use '-' instead of '_'.
 
-11. If you made a nontrivial contribution and wish to be mentioned in the
+12. If you made a nontrivial contribution and wish to be mentioned in the
     AUTHORS file, include that in your patch.
 
-12. If you made independent changes, try to send them as separate patches.
+13. If you made independent changes, try to send them as separate patches.
 
 Thank you!