[gnome-list-request@gnome.org: Re: CVS debacle]

["Geoff Harrison (mandrake)" <mandrake mandrake net>]

On Mon, Dec 14, 1998 at 02:06:33PM -0800, Jeffrey W. Baker wrote:
> Guys,
> 
> I'm sure most of you have noticed, but gnome anonymous CVS is a sick
> experiment in human patience.  Why are we putting ourselves through
> this?  If the anon CVS servers were in sync and up-to-date with the
> announcements made on this list and on www.gnome.org, traffic on this
> list would be decimated, and actual debugging/programming might even
> occur.
> 
> I really would like to help debug gnome and write my own gnome news
> reader, but I almost never have time to work on the actual code between
> cursing and kicking my computer when gnome CVS is broken.  Skilled
> developers with good ideas who want to contribute are a valuable
> resource, and I think the sorry state of CVS is going to scare them
> away.  If I was interested in gnome for the first time, I would
> immediately become disinterested when my first 10^4897549875 attempts to
> build it went awry.
> 
> Proposed solutions: 
> 
> 1) Get the brain-dead CVS servers out of the round-robin DNS entry.

brain-dead?  if only you knew that there are an average of over 60+ users of
each anonymous cvs server at any given time (well - at least dagon is that way
all of the time - with a load WELL over 40)

> 2) Ensure that anonymous CVS is in-sync before making announcements.

it updates once an hour.  can't ask for more than that - rsync would kill ALL
the machines if it were any more often.

> 3) Test build gnome before a cvs commit (this seems basic!)

there's going to be bugs in cvs, pretty much by default.  you use the
up-to-the-hour code and it's likely it won't always even build - there are bits
that aren't as often worked on that a lot of folks won't think about testing
before they commit stuff.

-- 
Geoff Harrison (http://mandrake.net)
Author, MAW Shell Replacement (http://mandrake.net/MAW)
Author, Enlightenment Window Manager (http://www.enlightenment.org)
phone: (404)760-8164