[webkit-dev] I *HATE* CHANGELOGS!!!

[Maciej Stachowiak]

On Aug 26, 2009, at 5:38 PM, Geoffrey Garen wrote:

>> Detailed descriptions, bug links, test instructions, and a link  
>> back to the entire original review history are all part of Chromium  
>> commits, yet we don't use ChangeLogs.  I think discipline about  
>> what to include + tooling to support it are orthogonal to a  
>> project's use of a ChangeLog as the mechanism for conveying this  
>> information.
>
> [This question not necessarily just for Peter:]
>
> If we removed the discipline of reviewing ChangeLogs, and the tools  
> that autogenerate a ChangeLog template and check for a ChangeLog  
> entry without an "OOPs I didn't get this reviewed" message, what  
> would we replace them with?

I can imagine a discipline where we ensure that pending commit entries  
sit in a designated file in your tree, are made by a tool much like  
prepare-ChangeLog, are included in patches by svn-create-patch, are  
applied by svn-apply-patch, and are used by commit-log-editor. That  
would ensure the entries go through the patch life cycle just as much  
as currently.

Another possibility is to have a review site (bugzilla?) be the  
canonical place for log entries until they get committed. At commit  
time, a tool would pull from this location.

Regards,
Maciej