Re: [PATCH] hacking: document format for git commit messages

[Stefano Lattarini]

On 02/26/2012 08:53 AM, Jim Meyering wrote:
> Stefano Lattarini wrote:
> 
>> On 02/25/2012 08:38 PM, Stefano Lattarini wrote:
>>>
>>> But I should definitely improve HACKING and have it document the
>>> standards and best practice for commit logs (since the GCS are sadly
>>> weak and out-of-date in this regard).
>>>
>> And here is my attempt.  WDYT?  I will push in a couple of days if there
>> is no objection.
>>
> ...
>> +
>> +      Finally, here you can thank people that motivated of helped the
> 
> s/of/or/
>
Fixed, thanks.

>> +      change.  So, thanks to John Doe for bringing up the issue, and to
>> +      J. Random Hacker for providing suggestions and testing the patch.
>> +
>> +      <detailed list of touched files>
>> +
>> +      Signed-off-by: A. U. Thor <address@hidden>
>
BTW, I now notice this is incomplete and confusing:

   - this line shouldn't be entered manually, but rather automatically
     by using "git commit -s" (ans this pertains to the "using git"
     section);

   - if the committer and the author are different, both should add their
     "Signed-off-by" lines

For this round, I'll just remove the line.  The issue with "Signed-off-by"
can be addressed in follow-up patches anyway.

> Do you really want to start requiring a Signed-off-by line, now?
> I explicitly avoid such lines as redundant when they merely repeat
> what's on the Author: line.
>
I'm not truly sure about this; but:

  - many other projects (linux, git itself) seems to use them, and I
    believe there's a reason for this (even if I've failed to find it
    so far);

  - Ralf Wildenhues used the "Signed-off-by" as well (bit I never
    asked him why); Eric Blake uses them too (Eric, if you are reading,
    care to tell us why?);

  - last but not least, I'd like to start using the various "Acked-by",
    "Reviewed-by", "Tested-by" etc. lines in the future as well, so having
    also a "Signed-off-by" line seems more consistent.

Regards,
  Stefano