[m-dev.] Renaming the NEWS file -> NEWS.md

[Zoltan Somogyi]

On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 08:01:04 -0500 (EST), Julien Fischer <jfischer at opturion.com> wrote:
> > - The list of changes to library modules should have *exactly one*
> >  entry for any library module it mentions. Having more than one
> >  entry can be confusing for readers.
> 
> So, something like
> 
>    # Changes to the Mercury standard library
> 
>    ## Changes to the array module
>        .
>        .
>        .
>    ## Changes to the char module
>        .
>        .
>        .
> 
> etc etc?

Exactly.
 
> > - Those entries should be sorted by module name. This should help us
> >   enforce the "only one mention" rule, and allows readers to find
> >   what they are interested in using binary search.
> >
> > - Likewise, changes to compiler options should be described in
> >   exactly one entry (the usual change being the addition of the option),
> >   and the entries should be sorted by option name.
> > We should also consider having the NEWS.md file for a full release
> > include the changes since the previous full release, as now, but
> > moving those changes to the HISTORY file (HISTORY.md?)
> 
> One thing at a time

If you moved the part of the NEWS file dealing with the last full release
to the HISTORY file, you will have to convert less text to the markdown
format.

> (and if you think the NEWS file is a bit
> of a mess you *really* don't want to look at the HISTORY file).

That was a throwaway comment. We are not the Ministry of Truth;
we should leave HISTORY unchanged.

> > immediately afterwards, so that between full releases (i.e. the vast
> > majority of the time), NEWS.md contains only the changes that
> > happened *since* the last full release.
> >
> > We should probably delete the TODO file. We have not used it
> > in years (possibly decades :-( ).
> 
> You're working on one of the things in that file right now!

May be, but I didn't start working on it *because* of the TODO file.

> Mind you, the contents of that file do seem to be a mixture of the
> out-of-date, the trivial, the vague and absolutely gigantic pieces of
> work.

Exactly. For project outsiders, who cannot be expected to be able
to tell those categories apart, this makes it a less-than-useful guide
to what we may be working on.

Zoltan.