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Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 15:00:35 -0400
From: Jeff Garzik <jgarzik@mandrakesoft.com>
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To: Helge Hafting <helgehaf@aitel.hist.no>
CC: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Changelogs on kernel.org
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Helge Hafting wrote:

>Jeff Garzik wrote:
>
>>(speaking more to the crowd...)
>>Changeset comments need to be written as if they stand alone, without
>>any other context -- including the author.  A reader should not need to
>>know that (for examples) James Simmons hacks on fbdev stuff.
>>
>
>I think it is nice to have the names.  A new kernel
>might break something,  It is then nice to know
>where to send the bug report. (It is usually, but not
>necessarily the maintainer that did it.)
>

Having the name is fine -- I agree it should not be removed.

However, that was not the point of my message.  The point is, each 
changeset comment comes with -no context at all-.  If the author of the 
comment assumes that, by his name, we can figure out what a comment like 
"minor fixes" mean, that author is making a mistake.  Each cset comment 
needs to tell exactly what the change is, and should not require 
knowledge of the author's identity to determine what is in the changeset.

    Jeff