Document ChangeLog policy change

backend-writing.txt

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-2006-01-01
+2015-12-20
 
 Here are a few rules and tips that should help writing a
 SANE-conforming backend and including it into the SANE package:
@@ -80,11 +80,12 @@ sane-backends/
     configure.in depcomp install-sh ltmain.sh Makefile.am Makefile.in missing 
     mkinstalldirs: Part of the build system as explained above.
   * ChangeLog:
-    The ChangeLog contains all the changes made since the last stable release. 
-    If anything is changed in git, it must be also mentioned in ChangeLog. 
-    It's not enough to write just a git commit message, as users won't have 
-    access to these messages. For more details on the format, see the SANE 
-    git page on the website.
+    The ChangeLog contains all the changes made since the last stable release.
+    If anything is changed in git, write a decent commit message documenting
+    your work.  This commit message will be included as is in the ChangeLog
+    file for the next stable release.  Users of development code should refer
+    to the `git log` output or the on-line log.
+    For more details on the format, see the SANE git page on the website.
   * ChangeLog-1.0.0, ChangeLog-1.0.1 (...):
     These files contain the ChangeLogs of older releases. Once a new release has
     been made, the current ChangeLog renamed to ChangeLog-1.something.something
@@ -370,7 +371,8 @@ PROGRAMMING
   techniques generating warnings on gcc may lead to errors on other systems.
 
 * To support translation of SANE options, please mark the descriptions (desc)
-  and title of options with SANE_I18N(). See po/README for details.
+  and title of options with SANE_I18N() and add all files using SANE_I18N() to
+  po/POTFILES. See po/README for details.
 
 * Please check for TL_X < BR_X and TL_Y < BR_Y to avoid segfaults or even
   scanner damage. This should NOT be done in sane_control_option, it should
@@ -481,6 +483,9 @@ In sane-backends/doc/
   check the html pages result with a browser.
 * Check that the backend version is the same in the source and in the
   description file.
+  
+In sane-backends/po/
+* Add all files using SANE_I18N() to po/POTFILES
 
 
 INCLUDING INTO git

cvs.html

@@ -133,24 +133,27 @@
     </p>
 
     <p>
-      When doing changes (commits) to sane-backends or sane-frontends, make sure
-      you remember to include an entry in the ChangeLog file. The format is
-      simple, with the date the change was committed to git, the name and email
-      address of the one doing the commit, the list of files changed (ignoring
-      ChangeLog itself), and a description of the change. Example:
+      When committing work to sane-backends or sane-frontends, make sure
+      to write a descriptive commit message.  The format is simple, a short
+      single line summary, optionally followed by a longer explanation of why
+      things were changed.  For large changes, including a summary of what
+      changed may be helpful too.  Example:
     </p>
 
 <pre>
-2000-03-06  Petter Reinholdtsen 
-	* configure.in configure: New version is 1.0.2.
+niash.c: Add argument screening to sane_control_option
+
+This prevents access to non-existing array elements as well as
+potential NULL dereferences.
+
+Fixes #315132.
 </pre>
 
     <p>
-      You can use the same descriptions in the ChangeLog and the commit
-      messages. The ChangeLog file is still used in addition to the
-      commit messages (CVS legacy). If you intend to change more than
-      one file, it's ok to add all the entries to the ChangeLog only
-      once per day.
+      Commit messages will be collected in a ChangeLog file for inclusion
+      in the release by the release manager.  There is no need to update
+      the ChangeLog file yourself.  People using the "bleeding edge" are
+      supposed to have convenient access to the <tt>git log</tt> output.
     </p>
 
     <h2>sane-commit Mailing list</h2>