[U-Boot] [PATCH 2/2] remove main CHANGELOG file

Kim Phillips
2010-05-05T00:25:44Z

On Tue, 4 May 2010 23:41:40 +0200
Wolfgang Denk <wd@denx.de> wrote:

> Dear Kim Phillips,
>
> In message <20100413211604.66841557.kim.phillips@freescale.com> you wrote:
> > CHANGELOG is a duplicate of the u-boot project's git log: remove it.
>
> No. Please re-read the archive why this file is kept.

looking in the u-boot archives, found this very old thread (which I
assume is the result of CHANGELOG causing a merge conflict way back
when):

Subject: [U-Boot-Users] Proposed CHANGELOG Generation Helpers
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 20:14:30 -0500

and in Message-Id: <20061013095221.AC2B1353C95@atlas.denx.de>, you
write:

> So since I seem to be the only person on this planet who likes to
> have this CHANGELOG file, and it has caused so much trouble already I
> suggest the following procedure:
...
> (2) rename CHANGELOG into CHANGELOG.OLD, and start a new CHANGELOG
> which gets automatically generated using the command above or a
> variation thereof.
>
> Note: nobody needs to take care of this file. It is purely for my
> own private needs, and I will manage it on my own. Everybody else
> can just ignore the existence of this file.

which doesn't do a good job of explaining why you keep this file.

More interestingly, in this message:

http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/28785

you write:

> True, as long as you can work within the SCM. The changelog file I'm
> talking about is mostly for people who just work with exported trees
> (for example, when they download a tarball).

which almost supports what I write in the commit message:

> > It is assumed that this file's only purpose is to serve non-git users
> > downloading u-boot project source in the form of a tarball release. If
> > that is the case, then the generation of the CHANGELOG file should occur
> > at tarball release generation time, and not consume duplicate history,

..which was already suggested to you by Josef Weidendorfer:

http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/28790

and further reinforced by Linus Torvalds, here:

http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/28789

> > slowing things down and polluting grep match results for u-boot
> > developers using git.
>
> Slowing things down? C'me on.

maybe not git grep performance-wise (yet), but on a
frequently-occurring search term, when we have to visually sift through
and page down through a large number of CHANGELOG hits (that invariably
show up first), then yes, I consider that a development-time barrier.

> Polluting grep results? Then exclude this file from grepping...

that's a PITA, and besides, that's what this patch does, and, afaict,
at no loss on your part.

> > u-boot project git history goes back to before u-boot 0.1.0, so remove
> > CHANGELOG-before-U-Boot-1.1.5 file too.
>
> NAK. My position about these files has not changed.

Please reconsider: u-boot has no need to be 'special' in this area, and
this file's continued existence is a lingering harassment for
developers such as myself.

Best regards,

Kim