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That depends what you mean by a changelog. According to the GNU coding standards, which have been used for decades for a large amount of the core software on a
by Karellen 4y ago
That depends what you mean by a changelog.
According to the GNU coding standards, which have been used for decades for a large amount of the core software on a Linux system, what you should put in the changelog looks quite a lot like a good git commit log would look like[0]. And Linux currently uses the git log as the changelog, and IIRC had a similar format in the pre-git era.
> The changelog targets your users. It must answer questions like:
> "What cool new feature is in this version?"
> "Is this annoying bug fixed?"
> "Is it safe to upgrade, or do I need to adjust my code/workflow to this new version?"
To me, that sounds like what a lot of projects would call "release notes" or (per GNU) "NEWS file"[1], not the changelog.
[0] https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html#Change-Logs https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html#Change-Log...
[1] https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html#NEWS-File https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/standards.html#NEWS-File
- plorkyeran 4y agoGNU's notion of a changelog predates the widespread use of source control, and is indeed there to cover which is now covered by git history. It's not what anyone using modern software development approaches means by a changelog.
- Karellen 4y ago> It's not what anyone using modern software development approaches means by a changelog. Well, it's a good job then that this forum is cool with blurring the subtle distinctions between technical terms that have been in use for decades, and is happy to just go with whatever mainstream definition of a word has the most traction... ...on this site for news about breaking into computer systems. /s
- agateau 4y agoI agree, I used to have a NEWS file in my projects (later a NEWS.md), but as others commented, the signification of the term "changelog" has changed. Sites like https://keepachangelog.com/ https://keepachangelog.com/ really refers to release notes or news.