From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Richard Stallman Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: PROPOSAL: Move to git, now that bzr is no longer a req. Date: Mon, 06 Jan 2014 09:00:38 -0500 Message-ID: References: <20140102095347.6834E381D0C@snark.thyrsus.com> <87fvp6bdd9.fsf_-_@ktab.red-bean.com> <8761q1ljny.fsf@gmail.com> <20140103175006.GE17261@thyrsus.com> <87ppo6u3mr.fsf@mid.deneb.enyo.de> <874n5i40th.fsf@mid.deneb.enyo.de> Reply-To: rms@gnu.org NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-15 X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1389016843 19350 80.91.229.3 (6 Jan 2014 14:00:43 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2014 14:00:43 +0000 (UTC) Cc: esr@thyrsus.com, thierry.volpiatto@gmail.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org To: Florian Weimer Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Mon Jan 06 15:00:50 2014 Return-path: Envelope-to: ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1W0Aja-00075L-9P for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Mon, 06 Jan 2014 15:00:50 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:35191 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1W0AjZ-0004lB-Fi for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Mon, 06 Jan 2014 09:00:49 -0500 Original-Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:46331) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1W0AjR-0004j4-Sw for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 06 Jan 2014 09:00:43 -0500 Original-Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1W0AjQ-0005Du-6i for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 06 Jan 2014 09:00:41 -0500 Original-Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::e]:33808) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1W0AjP-0005Dp-Rj for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 06 Jan 2014 09:00:40 -0500 Original-Received: from rms by fencepost.gnu.org with local (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1W0AjO-00069x-Ss; Mon, 06 Jan 2014 09:00:38 -0500 In-reply-to: <874n5i40th.fsf@mid.deneb.enyo.de> (message from Florian Weimer on Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:43:06 +0100) X-detected-operating-system: by eggs.gnu.org: Error: Malformed IPv6 address (bad octet value). X-Received-From: 2001:4830:134:3::e X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:167458 Archived-At: [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider ]]] [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]] [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]] I find this pretty strange because adding comments typically does not make sense when one removes code (which sometimes needs *more* explanation than adding code). And when rearranging code, there is often no single place to put a comment *why* this was done. I find there is generally some place in the source file where the explanation belongs. It can be in some related place in the code, someplace where people will see it when it is relevant. But why not put it in ChangeLog? It wouldn't be horrible to put it there, from time to time. But preferably not often. One ChangeLog file covers many source files, and if we generally put the explanations in ChangeLog, it would become cumbersome. So it is better to put those explanations in the source code. Also, most often an explanation is directly relevant to existing code, and the best way to make sure people see it is to put it there. I never consult changelog files if I have the full VCS history. I do. I use the ChangeLog files to see what changes affected a certain function. Then I use VC history to look at the changes that are relevant to the issue. -- Dr Richard Stallman President, Free Software Foundation 51 Franklin St Boston MA 02110 USA www.fsf.org www.gnu.org Skype: No way! That's nonfree (freedom-denying) software. Use Ekiga or an ordinary phone call.