Re: [PATCH 1/2] Add `init-db.templatedir` configuration variable.

On Wed, 13 Jan 2010, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Steven Drake [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

Include `init.templatedir` as an alias for `init-db.templatedir`.

This describes what the patch adds, which we can read in the diff *if* we
wanted to.  The primary job of the first paragraph of the proposed commit
log message is to convince reviewers why it might be worthwhile to read
the diff, and to explain whoever reads "git log" output in the future what
motivated this change to be made.

Your log message doesn't say anything about why it is a good idea to add
this feature, which is much more important to talk about [*1*].

The target _may_ be probably to have this in $HOME/.gitconfig so that your
personal templates in $HOME/.gittemplate/ are used in all repositories you
will create.  But you shouldn't make me, anybody who reviews, or readers
of the documentation for that matter, *guess* what problem the new feature
is meant to solve.

IOW, code talks what it itself does, but it often cannot say why it does
what it does, nor why a particular way it does what it does was chosen.
You help your code justify itself by describing the motivation in your
commit log message.

Thanks for the advise if you cann't tell I'm used to writing spares message
both in log messages and email, so this is a great help as to what to
write.  I'll resubmit some improved patches with better log messages.

On that subject do you prefer resubmits as replies to the originals or new
email? 

Do you accept email that use inbodyr-headers and/or scissors?


-- 
Steven
"won't be big"
	-- Linus Torvalds, 25 Aug 1991 - in his first post about linux.