Re: Next GNUstep release

[Riccardo Mottola]

Hi!

Richard Frith-Macdonald wrote:
> What I'd like to suggest is sort-of (but not entirely) scrapping ChangeLog, 
> in that we could auto-generate ChangeLog entries from the repository, either 
> by an automated commit hook or (assuming that's not easy to do readily), 
> using a script to get details from the repository just before we make a 
> realease, so that anyone getting a release of the software still gets a 
> comprehensive ChangeLog.
>
> Then we would be saved the overhead of writing ChangeLog entries and could 
> concentrate on:
> 1. meaningful commit entries, which of course we should all be doing anyway 
> ;-)
> 2. writing release notes for any substantive change (rather than ChangeLog 
> entries for even minor changes), to appear in the NEWS when we make a release
>
> If we stop writing ChangeLog entries, we should be able to write release 
> notes and still be spending less time, and of course that would make the 
> process of cutting a release less onerous.

It sounds reasonable. I'd like to see what this ChangeLog could look like.

I still "love" our ChangeLog and miss it in projects where it does not
exist.

It contains two important informations grouped together:

The conext of a Commit plus files, descriptions and if the author is
nice, even the Method.

e.g.

1970-01-01 John Doe
    * NSApplication.h
    * NSApplication.m (runLoop:)
    HookUp  runLoop to some Event.

is a context not found in other tools.
To inspect the "files", in GIT or SVN I end up essentially going on the
web interface and finding it.
But to know which file was modified, with git I use the "blame" or again
skip through the web interface.

The extra information about the method is lost in any case.

Here, instead, I just use grep or view on the ChangeLog, find what I
need on the console in matter of secons.... once I have found meaning
ful commits, then I still can open the web interface, in spect it, etc.

So a mere log of commit messages is totally useless, since "git log" or
"svn log" provide that (and often the comments are not that meaningful).

Maybe we can find a compromise here.


Riccardo