Is $Log$ a good things ? was Re: "fixing" RCS files

[Dominic Mitchell]

andrew Black wrote:
> Dominic Mitchell wrote:
>> The problem with $Log$ (and one of the reasons that it's 
>> discouraged these days) is that there is no clear end to what it's 
>> inserted into the file.  I think that the only guarantee is that 
>> you'll have the same comment character on all following lines. 
>> Which isn't much help if you've got comments immediately after 
>> $Log$ anyway.
> 
> That is interesting.,  I quite like $Log$, having for years relied on
>  manually inserted change history that doesnt always match the 
> version control system.  Maybe a compromise is to dictate that there 
> should be an end marker after the $Log$.

It would be a good comprimise, but you've an installed base of several
million systems going back over 20 years to patch...

Personally, I think that you should just use the version control system
to keep that information handy anyway.  No point in cluttering your
files.  I approve of the subversion way of doing things: You have to
explicitly request everywhere you want the version control system to be
altering your files for you.  Much more sensible.

-Dom