Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Re: Arch revision namespace

[Tom Lord]

   From: Matthieu Moy <address@hidden>

   Mikhael Goikhman <address@hidden> writes:

   > And how exactly adding a completely random suffix to the namespace makes
   > it non-bogus and maybe more intuitive?

   Not sure I got all of Tom's idea, but if you add a checksum suffix to
   the namespace, then ifever you recreate a branch with the same
   userdefined part, it won't have the same checksum part.

   So, if X creates a branch "foo" twice, and Y merges from the second
   "foo" after merging from the first "foo", his RCS won't tell him "No,
   I've already merged those patches", but will merge as if it were
   different branches.

   Similarly, X won't get a corrupt archive if he forgot to clear his
   arch cache or his revision library.


That's right and is probably the biggest win:  using checksums
this way turns a namespace that requires cooperation in order to share
into a namespace in which the ability to share is pretty much 
built-in: no special cooperation (coordination) needed.

This also opens the door for editting history in a controlled way.

-t