[Twisted-Python] How to say "reverted". (was Re: [Twisted-commits] r22628 - Revert r22624: regression in test_conch.)

[Jean-Paul Calderone]

On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:54:05 +1100, Jonathan Lange <jml at mumak.net> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>1. When reverting a commit to trunk, the commit message should explain
>what the regression is.
>
>The word 'regression' is used sometimes to mean 'test suite failure'
>and other times to mean 'a feature that I liked works differently now'
>or 'this is slower than it was'. If it's a test failure, it's useful
>to know what test, and particularly whether or not the test was
>related to the change. If it's not a test failure, it's good to know
>why the "regression" is considered severe enough to back out the
>change, rather than just fixing it in place.
>

Yes, please.

>2. Reverting someone's contribution is bad news for them. We should
>break the bad news gently.
>
>Backing out someone's changes can often send an unintended message of
>blame, when we actually want to be encouraging people to contribute.
>"Revert <revno>: regression in <file>." is terse, unspecific and
>leaves too much unsaid. We can't do anything about the bad news, but
>we can change the way we break it. Being more specific helps a lot, as
>does describing what happens next (e.g. "I'll fix it up and land it
>for you", "Can you please investigate the failure and fix the test,
>I'll review the fix for you as soon as it's ready.")

Sounds great.

Of much less significance, but related and most people probably don't
know about it, "Reopens #1234" in the revert commit message will take
care of adding the commit message to the ticket and re-opening it.

Jean-Paul