[coreboot] [RFC] Abbreviations in commit messages and code

[Peter Stuge]

Paul Menzel wrote:
> I propose the following rule (suggestion, guideline) for usage of
> abbreviations in commit messages and code.
> 
>         Abbreviations – mostly three letter acronyms (TLA) – should be
>         written out in full additionally once when used the first time
>         in a file or commit message, when no Wikipedia article exists
>         for that abbreviation or pops up when searching for that
>         abbreviation.

NAK..


> coreboot should be attractive to hobby hackers too

I'm afraid that's just wishful thinking. Please look at the reality
of modern platform development. Hobby hackers can't contribute there.


> and not having to look up these terms saves them some time and
> eases the “dreadful learning curve” in my opinion. Especially
> writing them out takes programmers less than five seconds as
> they can type really fast.

Let's optimize for the common case.. Every hobby hacker needs to
look up each acronym only once, and the cost of that lookup is small
in terms of commited lines of code. Typing out acronyms in each
commit message, no matter how fast one types, will always have higher
cost in terms of committed lines of code.

That said, I completely agree that commit messages are an important
way to transfer knowledge and that they should always be thoughtfully
written, but in reality not everyone will do that.


//Peter
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