RE: can we please use branches?

["Warren Baird" <baird asc on ca>]

>    - Branches are definitely difficult to manage. Especially in a large
>      shared space like the Gnome CVS base, where anybody with write access
>      can potentially commit to somewhere else. The best approach
> IMHO is to
>      use stable tags like FOR_PANEL used by ORBit when the head was really
>      instable. But just imagine that every package does the same,
> everybody
>      would end-up with a different environment, managing bugs report would
>      be a terrible mess.

If it was consistent I don't think it would be too bad.  If the person in
charge of each component defines a "STABLE_VERSION" tag when they think
things are relatively stable, and only move that tag to a new version when
it's proven stable, I think things could work.

It'd mean some coordination might required in cases where new changes in
component A depend on new changes in component B (they'd both have to move
their stable tag at the same time).

I've pulled clean CVS source out for gnome three times, and I've only been
able to get it to compile once.  Having a stable tag might make it more
likely that we get CVS source that works.



>   With Gnome gaining in popularity, there will be a need to have probably
> two code bases one being more stable than the other and being updated less
> frequently, this also mean some kind of release mechanism, and so this eat
> (precious ?) programmer time. I recall discussing the use of something
> more elaborate (the source management software from Larry McVoy)
> but people
> didn't want to use it.

We might be able to get away with a stable tag, rather than maintaining two
different source trees.

Warren

--
Warren Baird               | Visualisation Wizard
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