On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 3:05 AM, AllenJB <gentoo-li...@allenjb.me.uk> wrote: > Peter Volkov wrote: >> >> В Вск, 11/01/2009 в 10:31 +0100, Benedikt Böhm пишет: >>> >>> On Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 01:56:52AM +0100, Friedrich Oslage wrote: >>>> >>>> - - you forgot the ChangeLog entry >>> >>> `cvs log` is the changelog, i don't see why i should add a changelog >>> entry. >> >> There is the same reason as for ChangeLogs for ebuilds. Users (I'm user >> too) don't have cvs log at hand at their systems but still consider that >> it's important to know about changes. >> >> Is it really hard to script `echangelog "msg" && cvs commit -m "msg"`? >> > In my opinion the cvs commit log and the ChangeLog serve 2 different > purposes. The cvs log is for developers while the ChangeLog is for users. > While the cvs log will likely just want to explain what change was made, the > ChangeLog should explain why it was made. > > Developers need to realise that users don't know everything about the > software they use and don't always pin down the reasons for unexpected > beviour. Users also don't always read the documentation given to them. > > This has been seen recently in the change of default behavior of the world > set in stable portage is a good example of this. Many users didn't even know > about the --update option and many don't read post-commit messages (I expect > because they don't realise the importance of those messages or how they can > change the ELOG options to make the messages easier to read, for example by > having them emailed to them). > > There are other examples of insufficient information being given to users > too - the dvdnav USE flag was masked recently, but neither the ChangeLog or > the cvs commit message give any indication as to why this occurred. > > In my opinion Gentoo developers need to do more to communicate with their > users. This could be as simple as prominently posting documentation on the > elog system and how to tailor it. Or it might involve posting more > announcements to the Gentoo website (which would double up and make the > project look more active than it currently does from its front page).
It sounds like you just volunteered to write an article on elog for the GMN...am I reading your post correctly? :) > > AllenJB > > PS. I know about index2.xml - but that doesn't look like it's going to be > the main front page any time soon at the moment, which is a real shame > because it has some awesome changes. > >
