Re: Horrific new levels of changelog abuse
On Tue, Sep 23, 2003 at 07:20:59AM +1000, Herbert Xu wrote:
> Matt Zimmerman <mdz@debian.org> wrote:
> > Both should record the change in the package which caused the bug to be
> > closed. The change may be described at a high level (fixed the problem
> > which caused <behaviour>) or a low level (fixed <low-level problem> in
> > <subsystem> which caused <behaviour>), but it must be described. In the
> > case of closure messages sent by hand, there may not have been a change to
> > the package, and so that does not apply.
>
> Well, your "high level" change appears to be redundant as it is implied
> by saying that the bug is fixed.
No, it is not. I don't know how I can be more clear. There is a world of
difference between saying that _a_ bug was fixed, and explaining _what_ bug
was fixed.
> > No, it would not. The difference is between these two entries:
> >
> > * Closes: #300000
> >
> > * Correctly parse comments in the config file (Closes: #300000)
>
> You're still thinking in terms of changelog entries. Think in terms
> of closure messages. What is the difference between
>
> Closure: Bug is fixed in version X.
> Closure: Feature Y is added in version X.
>
> where the bug is requesting for the addition of feature Y.
The difference is that the message "bug is fixed" does not explain what was
changed, while "feature Y is added" does.
> > If I am having a problem with comments in my config file, the first is
> > worthless, and the second is very valuable. The difference is that the
> > change to the package is described, rather than hiding the change behind an
> > opaque bug number.
>
> In terms of closure messages, the two are equivalent assuming that your
> original bug report is about comments in the config file.
Not at all equivalent. One describes a change to the package, and closes a
bug report as a result. The other comments that an anonymous bug report
somewhere should be closed, without any explanation of what changed. They
are quite different.
> > A high-level description of the change which was made. Infinitely superior
> > to "Closes: #204614".
>
> Totally equivalent when we're discussing about closure messages sent
> to -done.
A message to -done means nothing to anyone except the bug submitter. The
three seconds I spend writing a useful changelog entry make it useful to me,
the submitter, and anyone else interested.
--
- mdz
Reply to: