Re: [PATCH] help.c: Pull cmd_version out of this file.

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Sep 2, 2010, 16:31 UTC
Message-ID: <7vvd6o14zz.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <20100902043500.GF29713@burratino>

Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com> writes:

Show 5 quoted lines

> Thiago Farina wrote:
>
>> All patches should just fix real problems?
>
> Yes.

This answer while it is correct needs to be qualified ;-)

A bugfix for end-user facing part of the system is obviously a fix for a "real problem", but clean-up without changing external behaviour to reduce maintenance burden in the longer term also is fixing a real problem, i.e. "the code, while it might be bug-free, is error prone and costs a lot to maintain".