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[MAL]
> * Commit messages only provide a very terse hint at what a
> particular patch set was meant for. The target audience
> is other core developers.
>
> * News entries explain these patches (there may be more than one
> for a particular issue or project) to Python programmers who
> need to know what to watch out for when upgrading to a new
> version.
I agree. But if you have to write two different versions, putting them
both in the commit message has two advantages:
- it's arguably easier not to have to touch another file
- the extended explanation can be useful for core developers too :)
In any case, I would very much like to see a unified style for commit messages a la Mercurial: a very terse, but self-sufficient first line, and more explanation below.
Not to speak of the non-arguable advantage of getting rid of merge conflicts in Misc/NEWS.
So if the script had a mode to "set off" the intended NEWS entry from both a header (the terse 1-line commit message) and an optional footer (explanation of technical details only of interest to committers), I would say +1.