auctex/CHANGES

[David Kastrup]

David Kastrup <dak at gnu.org> writes:

> Jerry James <james at xemacs.org> writes:
>
>> Every time I build packages, the next "cvs up" tells me that I have a
>> modified xemacs-packages/auctex/CHANGES.  The diff is always this:
>>
>> Index: xemacs-packages/auctex/CHANGES
>> ===================================================================
>> RCS file: /pack/xemacscvs/XEmacs/packages/xemacs-packages/auctex/CHANGES,v
>> retrieving revision 1.12
>> diff -d -u -r1.12 CHANGES
>> --- xemacs-packages/auctex/CHANGES	2005/11/20 08:52:38	1.12
>> +++ xemacs-packages/auctex/CHANGES	2006/07/31 17:14:19
>> @@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
>> -Changes and New Features in AUCTeX
>> -**********************************
>> -
>>  News in 11.55
>>  =============
>
> Since you presumably start with AUCTeX from its distribution
> tarball, is there anything wrong in just checking in the requisite
> precompiled files in the same form as they are already in the
> tarball?  That way, no options or scripts of yourself are involved
> and would warrant distribution, and your files don't differ from
> those of upstream.

Another thought aside: upstream by now is at version 11.83 and
distributes a precompiled XEmacs package at
<URL:ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/auctex/auctex-11.83-pkg.tar.gz>.  It
would probably make sense to take a look at it and model the procedure
how the XEmacs team chooses to organize its CVS packaging from there.
It does not seem to make too much sense to invest a lot of time into
polishing the structure of 11.55 when 11.83 with a working version of
preview-latex has been out for almost a year.

I think part of the problem why Uwe has not yet been able to complete
the transfer to a new version which now includes preview-latex is
simply that the CVS repository structure (basically done for version
10.x) and the AUCTeX source structure have drifted apart, and it is
becoming increasingly hard for the XEmacs package maintainer to keep
what may partly be old cruft stepped up to the new requirements.

If somebody with less qualms to throw old structures overboard instead
of adapting them took a thorough look at the AUCTeX source tarball as
well as the XEmacs package produces upstream, and then tried to come
up with a suitable import strategy from scratch, I think that would go
a large way towards having a reasonably up-to-date and working AUCTeX
version distributed from the XEmacs package CVS in future.

I am afraid that slicing this Gordian knot will require somebody
firmly acquainted with the XEmacs package CVS tree: it is not really
something Uwe could reasonably be expected to do.  After reseating the
import strategy, hopefully future updates would then be able to
proceed without requiring wizard involvement.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum