Re: Automatic announcement generation by calm

[Jon Turney <jon.turney@dronecode.org.uk>]

On 08/01/2024 13:42, Brian Inglis via Cygwin-apps wrote:
> On 2024-01-08 06:01, Thomas Wolff via Cygwin-apps wrote:
>> Am 08/01/2024 um 13:35 schrieb Corinna Vinschen via Cygwin-apps:
>>> On Jan  7 16:12, Jon Turney via Cygwin-apps wrote:
[...]
>>>> The mail follows a similar format to that generated by "cygport 
>>>> announce",
>>>> containing a list of packages and the description, with the following
>>>> addition:
> 
> Maybe also append:
>      "
>      For more information, see the project home page:
> 
>          $HOMEPAGE
>      "

Maybe.

I'm not sure how much value this adds, or the quality of the HOMEPAGE 
information we currently have.

>>>> * If the cygport defines the variable "ANNOUNCE", it's evaluated 
>>>> contents
>>>> will be appended to the generated mail.
> 
> Evaluated how - cygport variable expansion - commands?

This is evaluated using 'cygport vars', so yes, variables are expanded.

> Could ANNOUNCE variable contain a source file name or a URI?

No. Why would it need to do that when you can just use an ANNOUNCE file 
instead.

A URI seems a bad idea, as it's mutable (and potentially unavailable).

>>>> * Otherwise, if the source package contains an ANNOUNCE file [2], it's
>>>> contents will be appended.
> 
> Could ANNOUNCE be a symlink to $NAME-$PVR.$ARCH/origsrc/$SRC_DIR/NEWS?
> 

No. Don't do this. You should not assume the upstream source archive is 
unpacked.

Furthermore, this specific example seems bad, as typically this contains 
a historical list of changes, going back perhaps to the initial release.

If you find yourself wanting to write this, instead either arrange for 
that NEWS file to be installed and write "for further information see 
/usr/share/doc/FOO/NEWS', or point to it upstream.

There's currently no limit to the size of this mail (other than what the 
list itself imposes). Don't make have to add one.

[...]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> In accordance with our long-standing policy of treating maintainer 
>>>> email
>>>> addresses as private information, the mail is sent from 
>>>> cygwin-no-reply and
>>>> bcc'ed to the uploader.
> 
[example snipped]
How is this different from what it currently does?

[...]
> 
>> I'd also appreciate to prefix the mail with an "[ANNOUNCEMENT] " tag 
>> as for the mails forwarded from cygwin-announcement to cygwin before 
>> that was stopped, to enhance the overview in users' mailboxes.
> 
> Spammy looking compared to "Updated: ..."?

This seems to be actually a request to change the cygwin-announce 
mailing list configuration, since presumably you want that on manually 
sent package announces and other announcements.

Have you considered having your email client filter or highlight if the 
'List-Id:' header contains 'cygwin-announce'.

> Maybe also update cygport ... announce to be as close as possible to calm?

I'm not going to do this because it's something I have no use for, but 
if someone else wants to, PTC.