[SciPy-dev] Switch to syncmail for checkins?

[Skip Montanaro]

I *really* like seeing context diffs in the checkin mail (e.g. stuff sent to
scipy-cvs at scipy.org).  As a naive scipy developer it gives me a snippet of
code to scan.  As a potential code reviewer it makes it dead simple for me
to quickly "desk check" the code being checked in.  On the python-checkins
list mail is sent on a fairly frequent basis (every couple weeks at least)
of the sort, "did you mean X where you typed Y?"  This catches a fair number
of problems before they reach the wider world.

The Python gang uses a script I believe Barry Warsaw wrote called syncmail.
I'm not entirely sure how the CVS checkin process uses the CVSROOT/loginfo
file, but I suspect only a single "ALL" entry is supported.  A Perl script
named log is already run during the commit process.  It appends log info to
$CVSROOT/CVSROOT/commitlog and sends the result to scipy-cvs at scipy.org (this
is the typical scipy-cvs mail you get).  Syncmail generates a more
substantial message (includes the context diff I spoke of) but doesn't dump
any output to the commitlog.

Do people use the commitlog file?  Neither the log script nor the commitlog
file are checked into the CVS repository, so you have to login to scipy.org
to view either of them.  If people use the commitlog file I will make sure
it continues to be generated, but otherwise would like to dump the current
log script in favor of syncmail.

Let me know your thoughts.

-- 
Skip Montanaro - skip at pobox.com
"Airplanes don't fly until the paperwork equals the weight of the
aircraft. Same with i18N." - from the "Perl, Unicode and i18N FAQ"