[Openstack] RFC: Thoughts on improving OpenStack GIT commit practice/history

Daniel P. Berrange berrange at redhat.com
Fri Jun 29 09:23:54 UTC 2012


On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 04:57:06AM +0000, Vaze, Mandar wrote:
> > I particularly hate the single-line "Fixes bug 1234566"-type commit messages.
> 
> I assume your concern was regarding commits where "Fixes bug 1234566" is the first and ONLY line.
> 
> "Fixes bug 1234566" comes from Wiki. 
> 
> Plus there is restriction on how long the first line of the
> commit message can be. Not everyone is able to describe their
> change in one short sentence.

At the very least it is always possible to describe what area
of the code is being changed, so that you alert the reviewers
you are familiar with that area.

> So typically *I* put "Fixes bug 1234567" on the *first* line followed by additional lines describing the change.

IMHO that is one of the most unhelpful things you can do. If you are
a reviewer scanning through your email for patches to review and you
see a subject line  "Fixes bug 123456" you are given no useful information.
Few people will bother to go & find out what 'bug 123456' is, when
there are plenty of other patches pending with useful subject lines.

It is also pretty useless for people skimming through the online
patch summaries in GIT history.  As in my first mail this thread,
the bug number should be just a line item at the end of the commit
message, and the commit message & first line should be a complete
self-contained description.

> http://wiki.openstack.org/GerritWorkflow#Committing_Changes should be updated when this discussion is concluded.

Yep, totally agreed.


Daniel
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