generate ChangeLog from Git commit messages?

[Ben Pfaff]

I'm starting to get very tired of editing multiple ChangeLog
files, one for every directory that a commit touches.  I'd like
to propose that, instead, we write detailed Git commit messages,
according to the format suggested in the Git manpages[*], and
then generate a single ChangeLog file in a "make dist" hook, as
suggested by Jim Meyering:
        http://www.mail-archive.com/address@hidden/msg09177.html

If you guys are OK with this, I'll prepare a commit that renames
the existing ChangeLog files to OChangeLog and adds the necessary
hook to generate a top-level ChangeLog on "make dist".

[*] The git-commit manpage has this to say:

       Though not required, it's a good idea to begin the commit message with
       a single short (less than 50 character) line summarizing the change,
       followed by a blank line and then a more thorough description. Tools
       that turn commits into email, for example, use the first line on the
       Subject: line and the rest of the commit in the body.
-- 
Ben Pfaff 
http://benpfaff.org