# HG changeset patch
# User John W. Eaton <jwe@octave.org>
# Date 1223490591 14400
# Node ID a9da991c77aa3180588002a853b720eff0f62fb5
# Parent  cf59d542f33effc4f56a1eceaa844918c323e7bd
update contrib.txi

diff --git a/doc/interpreter/contrib.txi b/doc/interpreter/contrib.txi
--- a/doc/interpreter/contrib.txi
+++ b/doc/interpreter/contrib.txi
@@ -145,8 +145,10 @@
 @end example
 
 @noindent
-The ChangeLog entries should describe what is changed, not why.  The reason of
-the change should appear in the commit message.
+The ChangeLog entries should describe what is changed, not why.  Any
+explanation of why a change is needed should appear as comments in the
+code, particularly if there is something in the code that might not be
+obvious to someone reading the code later.
 
 The preferred comment mark for places that may need further attention is FIXME.