Ekaitz Zarraga <eka...@elenq.tech> writes: > On 2025-07-09 23:34, Tomas Volf wrote: >> >> The commit message’s purpose isn’t to enable people to avoid reading the >> diff; that’s an impossible goal. It’s to contextualize the diff.
(aside: seems the quoting got wonky here) > Which, btw, most of the Guix commits DO NOT do. > > I believe we should spend more time in the space between the commit > headline and the part when the files are listed, which in most Guix > commits is empty. > > For me, context is very important. When I git-blame something and the > only data I get back is: > > gnu: Fix thing. > > * file (thing): Fix it. > > > It’s as good as an empty commit message. Exactly. I sometimes think the process of filling out the structured file listing in the ChangeLog format lulls contributors into thinking they have contextualized their changes when they have only restated them. Also, one downside of the forge/PR model is that people have a tendency to put what should be in the commit message into the PR description. Usually you can make your way back to the PR without too much effort but it’s much nicer to have the rationale directly accessible via your blame UI. I try to mention this in reviews when I encounter it. —Liam
