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Re: [PATCH] docs: fixed minor typos


From: Eric Blake
Subject: Re: [PATCH] docs: fixed minor typos
Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:44:47 -0600
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On 08/08/2011 11:21 AM, Stefano Lattarini wrote:
* doc/autoconf.texi (Shell Functions): Fixed a couple of minor
typos.

For ChangeLog and commit messages, we prefer 2nd-person imperative tense over past tense. In English, 2nd person imperative and 1st person present tense are often the same word ("I fix" as present, and "you fix" as imperative counterparts to "I/you fixed" past); the 3rd person is not always the same word ("this fixes" as present, "this shall fix" as imperative, "this fixed" as past). Or, using "is" as an example:

Imperative: "Be more precise" (I'm giving you a command, which you fulfil by applying this patch)
Present: "Is more precise" (This patch provides this functionality)
Past: "Was more precise" (What the patch did)

My rule of thumb is to decide if what I wrote still makes sense when I append "when you apply this patch", such that what I wrote is addressed as a command to you as the unspoken second person reader.

---
  ChangeLog         |    6 ++++++
  doc/autoconf.texi |    6 +++---
  2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4d850bd..b3b721b 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2011-08-08  Stefano Lattarini<address@hidden>
+
+       docs: fixed minor typos
+       * doc/autoconf.texi (Shell Functions): Fixed a couple of minor

Change both "Fixed" to "fix", then ACK.

--
Eric Blake   address@hidden    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org



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