Re: Switching to Subversion

[Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>]

Sascha Wilde <wilde@sha-bang.de> writes:
> I have to plug mercurial[0] in this thread.  It's a distributed SCM
> written in python, which has a ui which is very similar to cvs, too
> (at least for all operation where this is possible).  

Here's Keith Packard's (of X11 fame) rather well-argued take on the
issue:

   http://keithp.com/blog/Repository_Formats_Matter.html

He provides pretty good arguments _against_ subversion, but also
addresses mercurial vs. git a bit (mercurial is in some sense a riff on
git, btw).

Here's the final few paragraphs:

   We were not particularly interested in the kind of massive distributed
   development model seen in the kernel, but the ability to work off-line
   (some of us spend an inordinate amount of time on airplanes) and still
   provide fine-grained detail about our work makes a purely central model
   less than ideal. Plus, the powerful merge operations that Git provides
   for the kernel developers are still useful in our environment, if not as
   heavily exercised.

   I know Git suffers from its association with the wild and wooly kernel
   developers, but they've pushed this tool to the limits and it continues
   to shine. Right now, there's nothing even close in performance,
   reliability and functionality. Yes, the user interface continues to need
   improvements. Small incremental changes have been made which make the
   tools more consistent, and I hope to see those discussions
   continue. Mostly, the developers respond to cogent requests (with code)
   from the user community; if you find the UI intolerable, fix it. But,
   know that while the UI improves, the underlying repository remains fast,
   stable and reliable.

   And yes, Havoc, anyone seriously entertaining moving to SVN should have
   their heads examined.

-miles
-- 
`Life is a boundless sea of bitterness'