Re: gnulib-tool.py: Fix pylint 'attribute-defined-outside-init' warnings.

[Bruno Haible]

Hi Collin,

> A single underscore doesn't silence it. I can submit a feature request
> but it isn't really a bug since it is still an attribute outside of
> __init__. IIRC pylint is pretty opinionated and they have many open
> issues so who knows if it will even be addressed.

The same holds for GCC, glibc, qemu, and many other project: They have
many open issues because the developers prioritize them. They nevertheless
depend on their users for reporting issues. Paul Eggert and I regularly
report issues in GCC, for instance. Please help making pylint better,
since we use it. (Call it a "wish", rather than a "bug", if you prefer.)

> How about we just silence this warning?

Thanks, applied.

> I think the '_' prefix for private instance
> variables/functions is a standard convention, but maybe we should add
> a note in main.py?

Yes, please. I think it will be a benefit to follow this convention,
even though it departs from our previous coding style.

Please submit patches in this direction one-class-at-a-time, not all
together, since that would be unreviewable.

Bruno

> [1] 
> https://pylint.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user_guide/messages/message_control.html#block-disables