# Pull Requests: The Linchpin of Open Source

DevFeed: [Pull Requests: The Linchpin of Open Source](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/pull-requests-the-linchpin-of-open-source-32207.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://bruceeckel.com/2015/08/03/pull-requests-the-linchpin-of-open-source/>)

Author: Bruce Eckel

Published: 2015-08-03T00:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Bruce Eckel - Computing Thoughts](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/bruce-eckel-computing-thoughts.md>)

Topics: [Pull Request](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pull-request.md>), [Open Source](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/open-source.md>), [version-control](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/version-control.md>), [Git](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/git.md>), [GitHub](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/github.md>), [Linux](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/linux.md>)

Tags: [git](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/git.md>), [github](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/github.md>), [linux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/linux.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [pull-requests](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/pull-requests.md>), [version-control](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/version-control.md>)

## AI overview

This commentary explains how pull requests integrated patch review into distributed version control, using GitHub's workflow as an example. It argues that accepting or rejecting contributions gives project committers significant control over a project's direction and leadership.

## Source excerpt

When Linus Torvalds started creating Linux, he managed the code base himself. People would email him patches and he would either include them or not. To maintain the code base - to have checkpoints and be able to back up to an earlier known point - he used a Distributed Version Control System (DVCS) which, as the name implies, is for managing versions. So there were these two seemingly-separate things: incorporating patches and managing versions.