Re: [Fwd: [arch-users] Re: Gud lord!]

["Stefan Monnier" <monnier+gnu/emacs@rum.cs.yale.edu>]

> > Arch has an appealingly tool-oriented approach, and uses
> > `understandable' data representations, unlike subversion which seems to be
> > more of a `big binary blob' design...
> 
> I'm not arguing for or against any such tool now, but the "big binary
> blob" is not a problem per se, if well documented.

It is a problem because you can't look inside with the usual tools,
so you end up locked with a specific set of tools and you have to
use them to get anything done.  And when there's a bug, it can end
up pretty disastrous (basically, the big-binary-blob implements
something like a file-system, so a bug is like a bug in your kernel
that can trash your entire file system).

It's not unbearable, but saying that "Subversion is just a better CVS"
is just silly.  The implementation of Subversion is far more radical than
the one of OpenCM, Arch, and Meta-CVS (which is why it's taking so long,
BTW, especially compared to single-man efforts such as Arch or
Meta-CVS).


	Stefan