[openbeos] Re: Organizational question

> > If really all you want to do is create a small patch for a bug that
> > has been hitting you like a rock for a long time, then there's
> > nothing
> > wrong with using the standard gnu patch utils. However, if you are
> > developing a larger feature, you might need a bit more time to do so.
> 
> I happen to be one of those developers who would probably be slowed
> down considerably, so at least I don't want to have it for now :)

I don't see how you would be. True, getting used to another revision
control system is a personal issue (see how the linux kernel
developers muddled in the beginning), however, you'll get the hang of
it anyway. Even when you switch to something as similar as p4 or svn,
you'll be bound to notice a learning curve. Anyway, I don't think that
you will have any problems, as long as there are some people that are
guiding the conversion process (and who will be able to answer quickly
by e-mail).

> > In the meanwhile, arch allows you to keep up to date with the
> > changesets in the 'mainline'. If it is ready, and tested, than you
> > can
> > opt in for inclusion. Or consider a company that makes a
> > customization
> > to tracker (a logo). With arch they can keep their own changes, and
> > stay up to date with the changesets in the mainline as well, because
> > arch uses intelligent merges.
> 
> If it's just a logo, the same is possible even with CVS. Also, the arch

Yes, if it's a logo, it's a non-issue. If it's a special feature (like
an updater built into tracker) it's something different. 
Distributions are bound to have their own patches against the mainline
code - even if it is only to add some third party unsupported hardware
or so. Those patches could, in theory, be pulled from the tree of the
developer, while the tree also stays in synch with the mainline.

Even though that can be done in cvs too (you'll just have to be
careful not ot do a cvs commit ;-) ), the fun starts as soon as the
experimental patches are launched into the mainline. You'll have merge
conflicts. As changes tend to be plastered on and on, it is nice if
there is a tool that will keep track of the changes.

> introduction seem to advertise the possibility of having only some
> developers working with arch for a start - dunno how that is supposed
> to work in combination with CVS, but maybe there are some tools as
> well.

I am doing it at this moment. For the usb code, I have a mainline
(what's in CVS) and a development branch. I won't go into technical
details, but it is possible, though not cleanly. Because CVS doesn't
distinguish between changesets, it is difficult to group changes made
into CVS. But if a whole kit decides to switch, then it is possible to
do it in a nice and clean way.

> > You see, software development is all about managing changesets. It is
> > about managing how to make sure all the relevant changesets stay
> > together. Arch is merely a tool to guide the changesets on their
> > proper way, like a set of traffic rules. As soon as you get into that
> > analogy, and into the concepts arch brings with it, you'll see that
> > it's not complicated, nor an overkill.
> 
> Other versioning systems are able to maintain changesets much simpler
> than arch does; and I see no reason for having distributed repositories
> anyway. The branch feature is always your friend.

What do you mean by simpler? Arch uses branches and versions. Within
branches and versions, arch uses an incremental count. I have never
been surprised by arch's way of naming and storing changesets. Please
give a clear argument why it wouldn't be clean.

Anyway, perhaps it is time to write something broader about how arch
could be used within this project. It would take away some
misconceptions.

Finally, I may seem a little sensitive concerning this point, but I
seriously believe that distributed development the way arch achieves
it is vastly superiour to traditional centralised server development.
I have been trying to find a good article that covers and explains
what distributed development is and how it helps the world, but I
haven't found one. I'll look for it tonight.

Have a nice day!

Niels

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