[Distutils] Implementing large changes in small increments

[Ben Finney]

Ben Finney <ben+python at benfinney.id.au> writes:

> Donald Stufft <donald at stufft.io> writes:
>
> > Sadly with how the code in pip is written, sometimes it’s just not
> > reasonable to make small PRs because things are not well factored and
> > changing things requires touching a lot of different areas.
>
> I've seen a number of other projects enforce “small revisions only,
> otherwise your change gets accepted”. If actually enforced, it is a
> highly successful way to get meaningful review of changes, and does not
> appear to limit the scope of the eventual change.

That's “small changes only, otherwise your change gets rejected”, of
course.

The policy for Linux that I alluded to is in §3 of this document:

    3) Separate your changes.
    -------------------------

    Separate each _logical change_ into a separate patch.

    […]

    The point to remember is that each patch should make an easily
    understood change that can be verified by reviewers. Each patch
    should be justifiable on its own merits.

    If one patch depends on another patch in order for a change to be
    complete, that is OK. Simply note "this patch depends on patch X" in
    your patch description.

    […]

    <URL:https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/SubmittingPatches>

I would be happy to see more projects adopt this, and enforce it, for
change contributions.

-- 
 \     “Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature |
  `\       cannot be fooled.” —Richard P. Feynman, _Rogers' Commission |
_o__)                       Report into the Challenger Crash_, 1986-06 |
Ben Finney