[ale] SVN modified timestamps

[James Sumners]

I agree. Personally, I think Git is a mess and I hate dealing with it.
But it's a damn sight better than Subversion. Mercurial (Hg), however,
is quite easy to use compared to Git. Hg retains a lot of the ideas
from Subversion in terms of the command interface, but still
modernizes source code management.

In either case, it is definitely a bigger transition from CVS. CVS and
Subversion work on the "versions" model of source code management.
Whereas, Hg and Git, use a "changes" model. That is, CVS/SVN track
subsequent versions (1.0, 1.1, ..., 2.0, ..., I.J) and Hg/Git track
the differences between code edit A and code edit B. So there's that
difference to wrap your head around.

But the biggest benefit, and I refused to "see" this for a long time,
stubbornly holding onto the SVN I loved over the pain that was CVS, is
the decentralized nature of the management systems. There's no need to
wait on some remote server to accept your version, and dealing with
the breakage that can cause, or to pull down the changes already there
before you can go to work. Everything is tracked right there on your
local computer without any server daemon running at all. And any
directory can be a repository. I know it sounds like "why the hell
would I ever want that?," but being able to work independently for
some length of time, all the while keeping track of your changes (and
going backward if you need to), without interfering, or being
interfered by, remote changes is liberating.

So I can't help but wonder if Mr. Fowler looked into these
alternatives since he is already making a rather big change.

Just for reference in case it is needed, here are some links:

http://hginit.com/
https://bitbucket.org/bos/hgbook
http://progit.org/book/
http://stevelosh.com/blog/2009/08/a-guide-to-branching-in-mercurial/

On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 18:42, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:
> The jump from cvs to svn is not near as huge as to git. git is a totally
> different beast.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 5:28 PM, James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> May I inquire as to why you're opting for SVN over Mercurial or even Git
>> (not my preference)?



-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59