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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/contributing.texi')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/contributing.texi | 28 |
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/contributing.texi b/doc/contributing.texi index c0755bb895..18d891db4e 100644 --- a/doc/contributing.texi +++ b/doc/contributing.texi @@ -289,6 +289,20 @@ Make sure the package builds on your platform, using @code{guix build @var{package}}. @item +@cindex bundling +Make sure the package does not use bundled copies of software already +available as separate packages. + +Sometimes, packages include copies of the source code of their +dependencies as a convenience for users. However, as a distribution, we +want to make sure that such packages end up using the copy we already +have in the distribution, if there is one. This improves resource usage +(the dependency is built and stored only once), and allows the +distribution to make transverse changes such as applying security +updates for a given software package in a single place and have them +affect the whole system---something that bundled copies prevent. + +@item Take a look at the profile reported by @command{guix size} (@pxref{Invoking guix size}). This will allow you to notice references to other packages unwillingly retained. It may also help determine @@ -300,6 +314,13 @@ For important changes, check that dependent package (if applicable) are not affected by the change; @code{guix refresh --list-dependent @var{package}} will help you do that (@pxref{Invoking guix refresh}). +Packages with roughly 100 dependents or more usually have to be +committed to a separate branch. That branch can then be built +separately by our build farm, and later merged into @code{master} once +everything has been successfully built. This allows us to fix issues +before they hit users, and to reduce the window during which pre-built +binaries are not available. + @item @cindex determinism, of build processes @cindex reproducible builds, checking @@ -333,6 +354,13 @@ referring to people, such as @uref{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they, singular ``they''@comma{} ``their''@comma{} ``them''}, and so forth. +@item +Verify that your patch contains only one set of related changes. +Bundling unrelated changes together makes reviewing harder and slower. + +Examples of unrelated changes include the addition of several packages, +or a package update along with fixes to that package. + @end enumerate When posting a patch to the mailing list, use @samp{[PATCH] @dots{}} as |