[Gnu-arch-users] Lithe Branching

[zen]

I have branches stable for merging, dev1 for developer A
and dev2 belonging to developer B.

I can easily 'tla get $stable' to run alternate test star-merges
of dev1 and dev2, or both combined.

But can I easily create an archive of stable+dev1, to then
star-merge in dev2, so I can easily test if it is worth
doing just such a star merge at this point, in that sequence,
or discover it is perhaps better to firstly commit dev2 first,
then star-merge in dev1 (possibly so dev1 can make further
changes)?

I am now comfortable with tla get to provide ready access to
working trees, but am not sure about readily throwing around
temporary trees at a higher level (with commits and all), in
order to test in that different way. So is it possible/ easy?

My experience with Bitkeeper was that such things are _really_
simple - "bk clone src(dir/archive) dst(dir/archive)", which
is essentially just cp -r src dst, since history is within
the working tree.

This Bitkeeper approach is what I am terming "lithe branching"
for the purposes of this email, and is a concept that I think
would be well worth making clear how to do - I believe it's a
powerful tool for developers to get to know.

Thanks in advance
Zenaan