Re: Generating the ChangeLog files from the commit messages

[Paul Eggert]

On 11/18/2014 09:40 AM, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
> I've seen a couple of projects
> where the quality of log messages is very low

That can be a problem, but it's the same as the problem where the 
quality of ChangeLog files is very low.  The two problems are solvable 
in the same way, namely by asking developers to write good commit log 
messages / ChangeLog entries, just as Stefan asked Lars to do a few 
minutes ago

You can judge the results by looking at the coreutils ChangeLog file 
(the first few entries are attached).  This was automatically generated 
from coreutils' commit log.These ChangeLog entries are just as 
high-quality as Emacs's, though admittedly coreutils is a smaller 
project and is easier to shepherd.

Glenn's objection (1) was not enough support in Emacs.  This depends on 
the workflow one uses.  I use vc-dwim and it works well for me.  Others 
may prefer to do other things, and this may require some Elisp hacking 
to work to their satisfaction, but it shouldn't be a big problem.

Glenn's objection (2) was that he sometimes wants more details in the 
commit log than in the ChangeLog.  He's right, this is a downside, but 
my own feeling is that it's a minor one.  We shouldn't be spending so 
much time on ChangeLog files that we worry about this sort of thing.  
Just write a decent entry and move on.

ChangeLog
Description: Text document