Re: git commit messages

[Sandy Armstrong <sanfordarmstrong gmail com>]

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 7:46 AM, Vincent Untz <vuntz gnome org> wrote:
> Hey,
>
> The GTK+ team documented how they'd like to see the git commit messages
> in http://git.gnome.org/cgit/gtk+/tree/README.commits
>
> ===================== copy & paste =====================
>
> The expected format for git commit messages is as follows:
>
> === begin example commit ===
> Short explanation of the commit
>
> Longer explanation explaining exactly what's changed, whether any
> external or private interfaces changed, what bugs were fixed (with bug
> tracker reference if applicable) and so forth. Be concise but not too brief.
> === end example commit ===
>
>  - Always add a brief description of the commit to the _first_ line of
>    the commit and terminate by two newlines (it will work without the
>    second newline, but that is not nice for the interfaces).
>
>  - First line (the brief description) must only be one sentence and
>    should start with a capital letter unless it starts with a lowercase
>    symbol or identifier. Don't use a trailing period either. Don't exceed
>    72 characters.
>
>  - The main description (the body) is normal prose and should use normal
>    punctuation and capital letters where appropriate. Normally, for patches
>    sent to a mailing list it's copied from there.
>
>  - When committing code on behalf of others use the --author option, e.g.
>    git commit -a --author "Joe Coder <joe coder org>" and --signoff.
>
> ========================================================
>
> I'd like to suggest that this is the default recommendation for GNOME
> modules, since having some common guidelines will make the life easier
> for most people. If some maintainers disagree, they can of course ask
> for something else in their modules.
>
> We can copy & paste it to http://live.gnome.org/Git/CommitMessages if
> people agree.

I agree.  And either Git/Developers should be expanded to include all
these details, or its commit message section should link to
Git/CommitMessages.

Sandy