[GitHub] [arrow] pitrou commented on a change in pull request #7503: ARROW-4429: [Doc] Add Git conventions to contributing guidelines

[GitBox <gi...@apache.org>]

pitrou commented on a change in pull request #7503:
URL: https://github.com/apache/arrow/pull/7503#discussion_r443443849



##########
File path: docs/source/developers/contributing.rst
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@@ -127,3 +127,52 @@ To contribute a patch:
 * Add new unit tests for your code.
 
 Thank you in advance for your contributions!
+
+Common Git conventions followed within the project
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+If you are tracking the Arrow source repository locally, following some common Git
+conventions would make everyone's workflow compatible.  These recommendations along with
+their rationale are outlined below.
+
+It is strongly discouraged to use a regular ``git merge``, as a linear commit history is
+prefered by the project.  It is much easier to maintain, and makes for easier
+``cherry-picking`` of features; useful for backporting fixes to maintenance releases.
+To sync your local copy of a branch, you may do the following::
+
+    $ git pull upstream branch --rebase
+
+This will rebase your local commits on top of the tip of ``upstream/branch``.  In case
+there are conflicts, and your local commit history has multiple commits, you may
+simplify the conflict resolution process by squashing your local commits into a single
+commit.  In the long run preserving the history isn't as important, because when your
+feature branch is merged upstream a squash happens automatically.  If you choose this
+route, you can abort the merge with::
+
+    $ git merge --abort

Review comment:
       Isn't it `git rebase --abort`?




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