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Re: Stop updating ChangeLog?
- From: "Maciej W. Rozycki" <macro at mips dot com>
- To: Yao Qi <qiyaoltc at gmail dot com>
- Cc: GDB <gdb at sourceware dot org>, GDB Patches <gdb-patches at sourceware dot org>
- Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2018 20:58:34 +0000
- Subject: Re: Stop updating ChangeLog?
- Authentication-results: sourceware.org; auth=none
- References: <CAH=s-PMDK233mPHHecHbrRky3QyaWYLem8KyujWm+E6M+N1WOQ@mail.gmail.com>
Hi Yao,
> #1 Are ChangeLog files useful in GDB releases to various people
> who build GDB releases?
> #2 Are ChangeLog files useful in GDB repo to various GDB
> developers?
>
> a) If answers are Yes/Yes, we keep unchanged,
> b) If answers are No/No, we don't need to write changelog entries in
> git commit log, nor updating ChangeLog file,
> c) If answer are Yes/No, developers still have to write changelog
> entries in git commit log, and we can generate ChangeLog on
> release from git log.
> d) If answers are No/Yes, get use to git to get the information from
> git log instead of ChangeLog,
For me it's No/Yes for two reasons:
1. It is often cheaper in terms of computation or I/O to run `grep' on
local ChangeLog files than on output from `git', which in turn means
you get results sooner. I know it's a weak argument, but still.
2. More importantly, many times I found writing a ChangeLog entry the last
reflection point when I realised the solution wasn't actually the right
one. This is because at that point you need to give individual changes
another thought, and then actually look at them from a different angle,
to have them properly expressed in ChangeLog-speak. I expect that at
least some people have had a similar experience and I'd like to keep
that opportunity.
I reckon we had a discussion before (at the last GNU Tools Cauldron
perhaps?) where we concluded that we ought to work towards having a GIT
commit hook extracting embedded ChangeLog entries from the commit
description and adding them to actual ChangeLog files automagically. I
would be in favour to that. Although myself I have developed a work flow
which makes pasting ChangeLog entries into files from a commit description
very little involving, I still find ChangeLog file conflicts a problem
with backports.
FWIW,
Maciej