Re: [Ksummit-discuss] [MAINTAINERS SUMMIT] Patch version changes in commit logs?

["Luck, Tony" <tony.luck@intel.com>]

On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 02:11:28PM -0600, Shuah Khan wrote:
> In a recent patch discussion, I learned that some maintainers would like
> to see patch version changes in the commit log.
> 
> I went looking in the git log and found a handful of recent commits with
> "Changes since" type information in the commit logs. It appears to be
> maintainer preference and a recent trend.
> 
> I see the value in including the information. It can be informative
> and valuable for future work in the area.
> 
> Is this something that we would like to see in all commits going forward? If
> so, updating submitting patch documentation and making
> sure the version information evolves from "informal" to more formal
> nature that fits in with the commit logs would be helpful.
> 
> Making sure it doesn't get out of hand and commit logs don't
> become too long to be useful would also be helpful.
> 
> Late entry, as I happened to come across this a day or two ago.

Sounds somewhat pointless. Picking on a recent commit I see:

    Changes since:
    v2:
     - Added Fixes tag to patch 1
     - Fixed typo
     - added GSWIP_TABLE_MAC_BRIDGE_STATIC and made use of it
     - used GSWIP_TABLE_MAC_BRIDGE in more places
    
    v1:
     - fix typo signle -> single

I don't see why someone in the future trying to debug some problem
introduced by this commit would care that earlier versions had some
spelling mistakes or were missing a Fixes: tag. :-)

Where substantial changes were made between patch versions it
would be useful if the commit logs were adapted to say things like:

 "We considered using technique X to do this but rejected
  it because person Y said it had problem Z"

That captures for posterity the useful information without
bulking up the commit log with the blow-by-blow deltas of
how the patch series evolved across 27 versions submitted
to the mailing list.

-Tony