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working on other parts of the code or are simply busy at
the moment).
</para>
+ <para>
+ We prefer to receive patches in a format which is immediately
+ committable. This normally means that we want your name and email address
+ (we're not keen on pseudonyms), a subject line which provides a
+ convenient summary of your changes, and body text which provides a longer
+ description (if needed). Patches must be generated using <command>hg
+ diff</command> or <command>cvs -z9 diff</command>, depending on which is
+ used for the repository, and always from within the top level of the
+ checked-out source.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If your patch is intended for a Mercurial-format repository, then
+ committing it locally and using
+ <command>hg export <parameter>.</parameter> &gt;<filename>foo.patch</filename></command>
+ to create the file to be attached is acceptable (but note that the first
+ line - up to the first line feed - of the commit message is regarded as
+ the patch summary; if you're not sure, check with
+ <command>hg log -r<parameter>.</parameter></command>.
+ Alternatively, use <token>From:</token> and <token>Subject:</token> lines
+ in the patch file itself; this is useful when forwarding.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Patches should normally be included as attachments. Some mail clients and
+ webmail services are known to mangle whitespace or wrap lines, either of
+ which is enough to render a patch potentially useless.
+ </para>
</sect1>
</chapter>