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-rw-r--r--Documentation/SubmittingPatches14
1 files changed, 13 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
index 8d818a216..76fc84d87 100644
--- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
+++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
@@ -6,9 +6,13 @@ Checklist (and a short version for the impatient):
- check for unnecessary whitespace with "git diff --check"
before committing
- do not check in commented out code or unneeded files
- - provide a meaningful commit message
- the first line of the commit message should be a short
description and should skip the full stop
+ - the body should provide a meaningful commit message, which:
+ - uses the imperative, present tense: "change",
+ not "changed" or "changes".
+ - includes motivation for the change, and contrasts
+ its implementation with previous behaviour
- if you want your work included in git.git, add a
"Signed-off-by: Your Name <you@example.com>" line to the
commit message (or just use the option "-s" when
@@ -62,6 +66,14 @@ Describe the technical detail of the change(s).
If your description starts to get too long, that's a sign that you
probably need to split up your commit to finer grained pieces.
+That being said, patches which plainly describe the things that
+help reviewers check the patch, and future maintainers understand
+the code, are the most beautiful patches. Descriptions that summarise
+the point in the subject well, and describe the motivation for the
+change, the approach taken by the change, and if relevant how this
+differs substantially from the prior version, can be found on Usenet
+archives back into the late 80's. Consider it like good Netiquette,
+but for code.
Oh, another thing. I am picky about whitespaces. Make sure your
changes do not trigger errors with the sample pre-commit hook shipped