RFR: 1463: Include starting branch in back port instructions [v3]

[David Holmes]

On Mon, 8 Aug 2022 08:57:35 GMT, Magnus Ihse Bursie <ihse at openjdk.org> wrote:

>> Sorry but I find this new step creates confusion. Would it normally be subsumed by using `git sync`?
>
> @dholmes-ora The JBS report by Mikael says that an important step is missing -- we need to make sure we start with an up-to-date view of the target branch. This aspect was missing from the instructions before. It seem to me that @lgxbslgx's patch will add this. Of course adding more instructions adds to the complexity, but that is the price to pay to get a fail-safe process.
> 
> At the risk of being more verbose, the instructions could possibly be made clearer, by listing the additions as a separate step, like:
> "First make sure you have an up to date revision of the target branch:
> $ git checkout..
> $ git fetch --no-tags ...
> 
> Then  get this backport PR:
> ..."

@magicus as I said I recently followed the existing instructions for a couple of backports and with no problem and nothing missing. So while I accept if you start from some specific condition there may be a step missing, if you are already in the right position then this new extra step is potentially confusing. Hence it would be clearer to me if this step was added with some context for when the step is needed. 

I asked about skara sync because I will always run it before starting anything of this nature. So I wanted to know if that is what already takes care of this additional step. Not everyone uses skara but these instructions have to make sense to both sets of users.

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PR: https://git.openjdk.org/skara/pull/1344