[Tfug] Version Control

[John Hubbard]

On 3/26/2013 4:37 PM, Bexley Hall wrote:
> Hi Tom,
>
>>> But, almost universally, "It only works for tracking source code".
>>> (Most of my colleagues aren't *just* "programmers" but, rather,
>>> system engineers/designers.  As such, writing code is a *tiny*
>>> part of a project -- O(10-20%) -- and one of the *easiest* to
>>> handle).
>>>
>>> Of course, what they mean is "it only works for tracking lines
>>> of ASCII text".  I.e., even if it allows BLOBs to be checked in,
>>> there are no effective tools for diff'ing two arbitrary BLOBs in a
>>> way that "adds value" to the differences detected.  And, the idea
>>> of being able to *merge* two arbitrary BLOBs is *beyond* BFM
>>> in their minds...
>>
>> Well, the question is is there some way to find value between
>> BLOB at rev5 and BLOB at rev4?  If there is, then yes, git's a fine VC as
>> you can do the plumbing so that you pass rev4 and rev5 to whatever
>> tool gives value.  But that's outside the scope of the VCS.  It just
>> needs to handle the data.
>
> Ah, I vehemently disagree!  A VCS that just lets me tag objects
> with version numbers and then faithfully stores/retrieves them
> is little more than a disk drive!

Eric Raymond's 17 Unix Rules:
Rule of Composition: Developers should write programs that can 
communicate easily with other programs. This rule aims to allow 
developers to break down projects into small, simple programs rather 
than overly complex monolithic programs.

If you are looking for a monithilic VCS that internally knows about 
every imaginable file type ever created, or envisioned, I suggest that 
you seek suggestions from somewhere other than a Unix mailing group.  
Microsoft might have a product for you.


-- 
-john

To be or not to be, that is the question
                 2b || !2b
(0b10)*(0b1100010) || !(0b10)*(0b1100010)
         0b11000100 || !0b11000100
         0b11000100 || 0b00111011
                0b11111111
255, that is the answer.