port_history - track port commit message comments

[Andrew Pantyukhin]

On 10/30/06, Doug Barton <dougb at freebsd.org> wrote:
> Ion-Mihai IOnut Tetcu wrote:
>
> > The problem with the OP's work is that some submitters/commiters think
> > that the CVS commit message should document the _port_ changes while
> > others think it should also document (or at least provide pointers) to
> > the changes in the software itself
>
> Good commit messages should do both.
>
> On the other hand, there is no substitute for the user/admin thinking
> for themselves. I think that if we try to overengineer making things
> foolproof, the universe will simply conspire to create "better" fools.

This is not only for communication between porter
and user, but also between porters. I'm sure good
porter should be perfectly content in total isolation,
but some porters love each other so much, they can
only be happy when they're in touch.

Documenting your thoughts when you're hacking a
port trying to get it right is extremely important.
This is the first, vital step on the road to
effective collaboration.

Wiki, articles, manpages, mailing lists, IRC and
other methods of communications help immensely,
but unfortunately they all get but a fraction of
your thoughts for a bunch of reasons.