Re: [PATCH/RFC] fmt-merge-msg: add a blank line after people info

From: Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 6, 2012, 20:27 UTC
Message-ID: <20120606202703.GA13641@burratino>
In-Reply-To: <7vipg2jpzp.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>

Hi again,

Junio C Hamano wrote:

> Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com> writes:

Show 16 quoted lines

>>                                                           I still like
>> the idea and still am distracted by the spacing.  After the small
>> patch below, the log seems peaceful again and I am totally fine with
>> it.
>>
>> 	Merge branch for-upstream of git://git.example.com/subsystem
>>
>> 	By Fred the Clown
>>
>> 	* for-upstream: (51 commits)
>> 	  foo: bar baz
>
> Two possible factors that may not be visible in the above example are
>
>  (1) hand-written description of the merge itself by the integrator; and
>  (2) octopus merges.

I've had way less time than I would like recently, but since a release seems to be approaching and nothing has happened, let's revisit this.

To summarize the previous discussion:

 * Hannes prefers not to see the By and Via info in the merge message
   at all.

 * Linus always reformats and paraphrases so the exact format is not
   too important for him.  He has concerns about the accuracy of the
   Via line.

 * Jonathan thinks the By info is ok as part of a merge message but
   finds it jarring when pressed up against the --log summary.

 * Junio mentioned what sounds like anothing infelicity in the current
   format: for octopus merges, there is not just one list of authors
   and submaintiners summarizing what the merge commit does, but
   separate By and Via lines for each branch being merged.

Since everyone seems to agree that it is best when the integrator sanity-checks the author info and rearranges it to taste, why not make it commented by default, for example like this?

	Merge branch for-upstream of git://git.example.com/subsystem

	Foo, bar, baz.

	#
	# By Fred the Clown
	#
	* for-upstream: (51 commits)
	  qux: quux

Jonathan