On Wed Jun 7, 2023 at 12:43 AM EEST, Ben Boeckel wrote: > On Tue, Jun 06, 2023 at 18:25:24 +0300, Dan Carpenter wrote: > > I'm looking through the git log to see if it's true the imperative tense > > commit message are shorter and better and neither one of those things is > > obvious to me. > > > > This patch had an imperative subject already so it was already kind of > > imperative. Does every sentence have to be imperative or can you just > > add a "Fix it." to the end? > > I don't know about the length argument, but it feels like it reads > better when skimming summaries with the imperative mood. The way I think > about it is that the subject should complete the phrase: > > When applied, this patch will… > > The body then gives more context and description as necessary. I don't > really worry so much about the mood/tense/whatever in the body except > that I try to use the present tense for anything the patch is doing and > past for any historical context. I understand that kernel maintainers > may care a lot more about it though. > > Basically, a patch, on its own, does nothing (just like a recipe). It is > only when it is applied that anything actually happens. I read it as > "`git apply`, please $summary". > > --Ben +1 BR, Jarkko