[PATCH] docs: submitting-patches: Discuss interleaved replies

From: Kees Cook
Date: Wed May 10 2023 - 14:34:56 EST


Top-posting has been strongly discouraged in Linux development, but this
was actually not written anywhere in the common documentation about
sending patches and replying to reviews. Add a section about trimming
and interleaved replies.

Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@xxxxxxx>
Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Thorsten Leemhuis <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Rong Tao <rtoax@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Lukas Bulwahn <lukas.bulwahn@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Zhangfei Gao <zhangfei.gao@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: linux-doc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-hardening@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Kees Cook <keescook@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst | 23 ++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 23 insertions(+)

diff --git a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
index eac7167dce83..3e838da8822f 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
@@ -326,6 +326,29 @@ explaining difference aganst previous submission (see
See Documentation/process/email-clients.rst for recommendations on email
clients and mailing list etiquette.

+Use trimmed interleaved replies in email discussions
+----------------------------------------------------
+Top-posting is strongly discouraged in Linux kernel development
+discusions. Interleaved (or "inline") replies make conversations much
+easier to follow. For more details see:
+https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
+
+As is frequently quoted on the mailing list:
+
+ A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_post
+ Q: Were do I find info about this thing called top-posting?
+ A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
+ Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
+ A: Top-posting.
+ Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
+
+Similarly, please trim all unneeded quotations that aren't relevant
+to your reply. This makes replies easier to find, and saves time and
+space. For more details see: http://daringfireball.net/2007/07/on_top
+
+ A: No.
+ Q: Should I include quotations after my reply?
+
.. _resend_reminders:

Don't get discouraged - or impatient
--
2.34.1