Re: GNU gettext 0.10.39 updates po/ChangeLog

[Roger Leigh]

On Fri, 26 Oct 2001 12:58:14 +0200, Bruno Haible <address@hidden> wrote:
>> when using CVS, it is very annoying.  "autogen.sh" scripts
>> run gettextize *every* *time* they run
>
>This is not the intended use of 'gettextize', but anyway...

But gettextize should be able to be used as the *user* sees fit.  A
command-line option to not do this would be fine.  It should be able to
cope with uses the maintainers have not thought of, by giving it
flexibility, so people are not *forced* to work in one way.

autogen scripts set up all of the autotools: autoconf, automake, gettext,
libtool and whatever other `embedded' scripts are used to build.  It's a
perfectly valid use.  Why should I not automate gettextize?

>> here should at the very least be an option to disable it.
>
>Here is a workaround:
>
>  gettextize && mv -f po/ChangeLog~ po/ChangeLog

I don't want *any* po/ChangeLog, let alone it being automatically updated.
I only have a po/ChangeLog there in order to satisfy the dependencies in
po/Makefile.in.in.  gettextize should not update po/ChangeLog if I so
choose.

>> I find the requirement for po/ChangeLog very annoying.
>
>ChangeLogs are recommended by GNU standards.

Yes.  We have a ChangeLog, but it's a single one at the top level.  This
also includes details of i18n changes.  After all, changes to the source
often also involve i18n changes too--they are not separate.

>> All our changes are kept in a ChangeLog generated from CVS logs, so
>> it is not needed, but po/Makefile.in.in insists on its presence.
>
>Then you can remove 'ChangeLog' from DISTFILES in
>po/Makefile.in.in.

No, I can't.  This would involve using sed or some other script on the
po/Makefile.in.in installed by gettextize.  How am I to cope with future
releases of gettextize and po/Makefile.in.in, which might break my script.

IMO gettextize is the place for such behaviour.  I should be able to
update the ChangeLog *if I want*, but also have the option to not have a
po/ChangeLog: you are imposing something on users such as myself that we
have no use for and do not want.  It would be trivial to only distribute
po/ChangeLog if it existed, and allow me to do without it.  I used to
accept that po/ChangeLog was required, but now you insist on updating it
too, it's just a real pain, especially when CVS wants to commit it when I
haven't changed anything...

Another issue: supposing my package has multiple catalogues, with several
potfiles.  Currently, I would need to manually copy Makefile.in.in to any
additional directories, and patch it appropriately to make the potfile of
the correct name.  How about an optional argument to AM_GNU_GETTEXT which
is a list of directories to treat as po/ dirs.  gettextize could parse
this and create the files appropriately.  Alternatively, it could be done
with command-line options.  Packages such as the GIMP have several
catalogues.  You would need to associate the catalogue name with the
directory name, or just keep them the same.


NB.  I don't mean to be really harsh here Bruno, I use gettext a lot and
really like it.  I just don't like this (IMO unnecessary) aspect of its
behaviour.

Regards,
Roger

-- 
Roger Leigh ** Registration Number: 151826, http://counter.li.org **
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