[cvsnt] CVS diffs and poor links (was RE: Betr.: CVSNT to CVS)

[Peter Crowther]

Wrenching at least one branch of this conversation back to CVSNT, or at least the CVS way of thinking...

> From: Tony Hoyle
> Andreas Krey wrote:
> > I happen to travel by rail, and while there is GPRS etc., it is
> > a bit flaky when you actually move, and it's not exactly fast.
> > You definitely don't want to do lots of 'cvs diff's there.
>
> Depends on how you work - I rarely do cvs diffs for example,
> unless I'm
> checking a commit, and if I'm doing that it's in the office.

I've noted some reasonably major resistance from the core team to anyone needing replicated CVSNT repos - right down to the 2.5.04 release message, and reiterated by Arthur on this list a couple of days ago.  It's provided (and thanks for implementing it), but with really quite bad grace.

But... it depends on how you work, as you say.  Tools exist to support me in doing my job, and "what have I changed?" is an operation I wish to perform more and more frequently as I get older and more forgetful.  At the same time, I travel more, and that "fast, always-on" connection is neither fast nor always-on.  For this reason, I appreciate having a local copy against which I can diff, even when I'm on a train on a particularly rural part of the West Coast main line*.

This may be a reason for keeping a truly local copy of the source rather than merely replicating servers, but I do think the view of "nobody needs more than one server" is wrong.  The mobile/disconnected user is increasingly common, even when they'd prefer to be mobile/connected or even static/connected.

                - Peter

* For non-UK residents, this railway line is notorious for poor reception on mobile phones, and hence mobile Internet.