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Re: Notes from the version control BOF at the summit
* Ian Lance Taylor:
> Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> writes:
>
>> >> > * Cheap branches
>> >> > In CVS, creating a branch is a slow operation.
>> >>
>> >> You should specify more precisely what you mean by this.
>> >
>> > It seems reasonably clear to me. I mean that
>> > cvs tag -b branchname gcc
>> > takes a long time.
>>
>> "Cheap branches" covers more than just branch creation time.
>
> True. I explained what I meant in the text, but I should have said
> "fast branches," not "cheap branches." Likewise for tags.
Yeah, but I don't think branching and tagging are common operations.
If they are expensive, they certainly should be mostly lock-free, so
that others can continue to read the repository and commit to it. But
tagging probably happens once or twice per day, and branching even
less often.
>> >> What about an additional requirement that some basic operations must
>> >> be very CVS-like?
>> >
>> > Why should there be such a requirement?
>>
>> It would make migration easier and could mean that existing shell
>> scripts are more easily adopted.
>
> That would be nice, but I personally don't think it should be a
> requirement.
See my other message. I don't really know what the average GCC
developer needs. If he or she couldn't care less about revision
control (or uses some proprietary system which is hard to integrate
with anything else anyway), it would make sense to avoid drastic
changes.
The trouble with a version control BOF is that only those who are
interested in version control participate in it. I merely want to
express some caution that you might underestimate the CVS investment
at gcc.gnu.org (you might also call it the "lock-in effect").
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