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Re: [Monotone-devel] Re: Monotone - A couple quick notes
From: |
Stephen Leake |
Subject: |
Re: [Monotone-devel] Re: Monotone - A couple quick notes |
Date: |
Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:43:04 -0500 |
User-agent: |
Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.2 (windows-nt) |
Thomas Keller <address@hidden> writes:
> Saying `mtn help <cmd>` is just one way, another is the `--help` (or
> short `-h`) option which can be put anywhere, also at the end of the
> command sequence.
Cool! I never realized that. I've added a short mention of this in the
manual.
>> * Globally unique branch names
>>
>> The part in the manual 1.7.2 about requiring globally unique branch
>> names is highly disconcerting and does not fit the generally robust
>> presentation and positioning of Monotone. I did not even want to
>> bother with a branch name at all on an initial trial setup, but it was
>> apparently required, and then to find they have to be globally unique,
>> extralong strings linked to some other random construct (DNS?? what
>> does that have to do with my project files?)
>
> monotone is all about global identity and it wants you to ensure that
> you put your contents (files and revisions) in a namespace that cannot
> be accidentially confused by somebody else and that you can always
> recognize wherever it is put. monotone can, by design, host many
> different projects in one single repository and without a clear branch
> naming it would be impossible to distinguish these different projects
> from each other.
The manual could be clearer about this; globally unique names are not
_required_, they are just a good idea.
Case in point; I started a local 'dvc' mtn branch, intending to "never
publish it". Then, 3 years later, people asked to have access to it, so
I had to "copy" it to a better branch name "emacs.dvc". mtn does not
support renaming branches; "copy" here means propagating, and keeping
the two branches in separate databases in general so they never mix.
So choosing a branch name can have long-term consequences, which is why
the manual just insists on it.
I've improved the section on branch names with this.
--
-- Stephe