NEWS file management

[John Arbash Meinel]

Robert Collins wrote:
> Hi, I'd like to propose a change to the way NEWS is managed.

...

> So, heres my proposal:
> 
> At each point release, we start new sections in NEWS - rather than
> editing and reusing the existing INTERNALS etc sections.

I'm not positive how this is different from what we've done, but I think
you are saying:

Currently we do:

IN DEVELOPMENT
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.9 2006-08-11

Which gets transformed directly into:

bzr 0.10rc1
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.9 2006-08-11

And then eventually into

bzr 0.10 2006-09-04
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.9 2006-08-11


It sounds like what you are proposing is that the first step changes it to:
bzr 0.10rc1
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.9 2006-08-11

But then anything else changes to:

bzr 0.10rc2
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.10rc1
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.9 2006-08-11

And then the final is:

bzr 0.10.0 2006-09-04
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.10rc2
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.10rc1
  IMPROVEMENTS
  BUG FIXES
  INTERNALS

bzr 0.9 2006-08-11


I'm okay with doing something like this, but I don't really know that
the ordering is correct. Just because the final '0.10.0' won't have much
of anything in it, while the 0.10.0rc1 will have the full log. And won't
actually include things changed *during* rc1 => rc2. (though that goes
in rc2, right?)

What I might prefer is to have a double nesting, so you get something like:

bzr 0.10.0 2006-09-04

    bzr 0.10.0rc2 <date>
       Specific RC2 fixes

    IMPROVEMENTS
    BUG FIXES
    INTERNALS

In my mind, it makes it clearer what is actually part of the final
0.10.0 release, and still gives you a place to mark where things had to
be updated for an rc.

> 
> Additionally, after each release is done, we merge just NEWS from that
> branch into the mainline, so that mainline NEWS always contains all the
> NEWS items from every branch.

^- I wholeheartedly agree with this.

> 
> Then to answer the first question above, I collate the sections in the
> main NEWS from the release to the one I want to stop at. 
> 
> To answer the second question, I just take one release area from the
> NEWS file.
> 
> Seeking +1's.
> 
> -Rob
> 
> 

So +1 from me, as long as the final arrangement is understandable.

John
=:->

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