[Buildroot] [PATCHv2] docs/manual: using a branch name as FOO_VERSION does not work

[Peter Korsgaard]

>>>>> "Yann" == Yann E MORIN <yann.morin.1998 at free.fr> writes:

 > For various reasons, we've always suggested users to avoid using a
 > branch as version string for their packages, because it does not work
 > as a they would expect:

 >   - it is not reproducible, because the branch may change between two
 >     builds that are done at different times;

 >   - it does not even follow the branch, as Buildroot anyway generates
 >     a local tarball, which it will reuse on subsequent builds.
 >     Furthermore, since we fetch and not pull, any existing local branch
 >     is not updated.

 > Yet, until recently, using a branch name would just work (with the
 > above limitations): the git tree was cloned, the branch checked out,
 > and the tarball created.

 > But with the advent of the git caching, using a branch name does not
 > work anymore. Indeed, we now do a git-fetch, and that does not create
 > local master branch. So we can't check out master, because it does not
 > exist locally. And for other branches, as noticed above, the local
 > branch does not get udpated to the remote one.

 > Furthermore, the local branches are only created by chance, again as a
 > side-effect of trying to fetch the "special refs".

 > So, we can't say that we reliably support the use of a branch name.

 > Update the manual to state that using a branch does not work. Remove
 > the 'stable' example, as it looked like the name of a stable branch;
 > instead, replace it with a version string that ressemble a tag.

 > Fix the layout of the manual by making the version examples an actual
 > bulleted list.

 > Note: the above is only entirely true for git. For Mercurial, CVS and
 > subversion, the status may be mixed, but nonetheless, using branches is
 > still a bad idea, if at least because it is not reproducible, and
 > because Buildroot does not even follow the branch. So, we do not
 > differentiate between the various SCMs, and just flatly state that using
 > a branch name is not supported.

 > Signed-off-by: "Yann E. MORIN" <yann.morin.1998 at free.fr>
 > Cc: Thomas De Schampheleire <patrickdepinguin at gmail.com>
 > Cc: Thomas Petazzoni <thomas.petazzoni at bootlin.com>
 > Cc: Maxime Hadjinlian <maxime.hadjinlian at gmail.com>
 > Cc: Peter Korsgaard <peter at korsgaard.com>

 > ---
 > Changes v1 -> v2:
 >   - enhance commit log with additional details  (Ricardo)
 >   - blurb about
 >   - typoes in commit log  (Ricardo)

Committed to 2018.02.x, thanks. While we do not have the reworked
download support (and hence the issue that triggered this), we should
still not recommend people to use branch names as versions.

-- 
Bye, Peter Korsgaard