I noticed that core files have @author annotations.
My take on this is as follows: Any active codebase (such as mediawiki)
sees constant change and code is refactored, rewritten, renamed, files
moved around, split up, etc. that the only meaningful interperation of
"@author" would be someone who first created that file / function, no
matter how small that piece of code was. At that level, it is not that
meaningful, especially in the face of refactoring and restructuring. git
log --follow might provide a better picture for an individual file. I
think all @author annotations should be removed. When editing a piece of
code, I imagine some developers might find it a little annoying ... and
confusing especially during refactoring ... whether to retain it or not.
I find these annotations misleading and wonder why they exist and what
purpose they serve. Would appreciate a discussion on this.
Alternatively, I would appreciate if someone can point me to a wiki page
/ phab task / essay that explains the rationale for why these
annotations should exist and be preserved.
Thanks,
Subbu.