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@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+---
+title: Pull requests with Git, the old school way
+date: 2020-09-05
+layout: til
+lang: en
+ref: pull-requests-with-git-the-oldschool-way
+---
+It might be news to you, as it was to me, that "pull requests" that you can
+create on a Git hosting provider's web UI[^pr-webui] like
+GitLab/Bitbucket/GitHub actually comes from Git itself: `git request-pull`.
+
+[^pr-webui]: And maybe even using the Git hosting provider's API from the
+    command line!
+
+At the very core, they accomplish the same thing: both the original and the web
+UI ones are ways for you to request the project maintainers to pull in your
+changes from your fork. It's like saying: "hi there, I did some changes on my
+clone of the repository, what do you think about bringing those in?".
+
+The only difference is that you're working with only Git itself, so you're not
+tied to any Git hosting provider: you can send pull requests across them
+transparently! You could even use your own [cgit][cgit] installation. No need to
+be locked in by any of them, putting the "D" back in "DVCS": it's a
+**distributed** version control system.
+
+[cgit]: https://git.zx2c4.com/cgit/about/
+
+## `git request-pull` introduction
+
+Here's the raw output of a `git request-pull`:
+
+```shell
+$ git request-pull HEAD public-origin
+The following changes since commit 302c9f2f035c0360acd4e13142428c100a10d43f:
+
+  db post: Add link to email exchange (2020-09-03 21:23:55 -0300)
+
+are available in the Git repository at:
+
+  https://git.euandreh.xyz/website/
+
+for you to fetch changes up to 524c646cdac4153e54f2163e280176adbc4873fa:
+
+  db post: better pinpoint sqlite unsuitability (2020-09-03 22:08:56 -0300)
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+EuAndreh (1):
+      db post: better pinpoint sqlite unsuitability
+
+ _posts/2020-08-31-the-database-i-wish-i-had.md | 12 ++++++------
+ 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
+```
+
+That very first line is saying: "create me a pull request with only a single
+commit, defined by `HEAD`, and use the URL defined by `public-origin`".
+
+Here's a pitfall: you may try using your `origin` remote at first where I put
+`public-origin`, but that is many times pointing to something like
+`git@example.com`, or `git.example.com:repo.git` (check that with
+`git remote -v | grep origin`). On both cases those are addresses available for
+interaction via SSH, and it would be better if your pull requests used an
+address ready for public consumption.
+
+A simple solution for that is for you to add the `public-origin` alias as the
+HTTPS alternative to the SSH version:
+
+```shell
+$ git remote add public-origin https://example.com/user/repo
+```
+
+Every Git hosting provider exposes repositories via HTTPS.
+
+Experiment it yourself, and get acquainted with the CLI.
+
+## Delivering decentralized pull requests
+
+Now that you can create the content of a pull request, you can just
+[deliver it][cli-email] to the interested parties email:
+
+```shell
+# send a PR with your last commit to the author's email
+git request-pull HEAD public-origin | mail author@example.com -s "PR: Add thing to repo"
+
+# send a PR with your last 5 commits to the project's mailing
+# list, including the patch
+git request-pull HEAD~5 public-origin -p | mail list@example.com -s "PR: Add another thing to repo"
+
+# send every commit that is new in "other-branch"
+git request-pull master public-origin other-branch | mail list@example.com -s 'PR: All commits from my "other-brach"'
+```
+
+[cli-email]: {% link _tils/2020-09-04-send-emails-using-the-command-line-for-fun-and-profit.md %}
+
+## Conclusion
+
+In practice, I've never used or seen anyone use pull requests this way:
+everybody is just [sending patches via email][decentralized-git].
+
+If you stop to think about this model, the problem of "Git hosting providers
+becoming too centralized" is a non-issue, and "Git federation" is a less
+attractive as it may sound initially.
+
+Using Git this way is not scary or so weird as the first impression may suggest.
+It is actually how Git was designed to be used.
+
+Check `git help request-pull` for more info.
+
+[decentralized-git]: https://drewdevault.com/2018/07/23/Git-is-already-distributed.html
diff --git a/spelling/international.txt b/spelling/international.txt
index 127ebd7..1bbaa3f 100644
--- a/spelling/international.txt
+++ b/spelling/international.txt
@@ -11,9 +11,12 @@ BN
 BSON
 BY
 BY-SA
+Bitbucket
 CI
+CLI
 Cantrill
 CouchDB
+DVCS
 Datomic
 EuAndreh
 F
@@ -27,6 +30,7 @@ GitLab
 Gmail
 GuixSD
 HN
+HTTPS
 Halloway
 IndexedDB
 JS
@@ -56,6 +60,8 @@ StackOverflow
 Staltz
 TAB
 TBs
+UI
+URL
 VPN
 WebAssembly
 Yandex