Eclipse bug 286808 adds warning messages for including certain files (like .classpath, .project, plugin.xml) in the src.includes for a plugin.
Those files seem pretty important for a source release, assuming that you want someone who receives the release to be able to not only code against your plugin but potentially change it. (I guess you could do a source release purely so people can debug against it, but then why would you discourage modification of the plugin by removing these files that are important for development?)
I’m struggling to understand why this change was made. Can anyone provide a reasonable explanation for it?
Edit: Example of the warning message: “‘plugin.xml’ should not be added to src.includes list as it is not required in source build”
Edit 2: As can be seen from the answers, I think I asked the wrong question. Should have been: what is the intended purpose of an RCP plugin “Source Build”…
From my understanding you’re not supposed to modify source plug-ins. They are accompanying plug-ins for their binary counterparts to provide the source code (for debugging and generally to make development against these plug-ins easier) and – more importantly – to provide the Javadoc.
If you want others to be able to modify your plug-in you should just offer your zipped project directory.
Jar files in general – to me – are libraries with specific versions that you should take as is. There may be rare reasons why you might have to modify someone else’s library for your own purposes but that shouldn’t be the norm.