Re: endless version control debates [was Re: Using Git to manage your Emacs changes]

[Chad Brown]

On Apr 22, 2010, at 10:07 AM, Leo wrote:

> It might not be completely useless. Nothing stops emacs from using
> multiple version control tools if a good synchronisation scheme can be
> found.

The point of choosing Bazaar was to give the support of `Emacs uses it' 
and `Emacs developers use it' to the official GNU VCS system.   Anything
that encourages Emacs [developers] to use not-Bazaar hampers that goal.

It follows simply and directly from this that the PtB are not especially 
interested
in supporting non-Bazaar VCS *use* for Emacs development, regardless of 
how you get there.  Nobody's going to come to your house and take away your
Emacs Developer badge, but that doesn't mean that they want to see the debates,
either.  

It can be very hard for the sort of people who typically make good developers 
(be they programmers, debuggers, testers, power-users, etc) to accept 
out-of-stream arguments, especially when they seem contrary to simple 
technical-merit-based metrics, but the current status is:  Bazaar was chosen 
for 
reasons other than pure technical merit, so technical merit arguments are simply
an irritation to almost everyone involved.  As a practical matter, you can 
probably 
bring it up again after Emacs development, Bazaar, and all potential 
alternatives 
have matured for a while (I'd guess a year is probably a good fencepost), but 
until
then, the debates, discussions, data points, etc -- NO MATTER HOW TRUE -- are
simply irritants.   Hold on to them, develop alternatives, jump into Bazaar and
shape it from the inside -- any of these are great.  For now, for this, debate 
is not a
viable answer.

I apologize if I've stepped on anyone's toes in saying this; it is not my 
intention to 
offend anyone.  I'm speaking up because I have hope that a voice from outside 
the
debate will have a greater chance of being actually heard above the din.

Thanks, everyone, for emacs; the last 20 years would certainly have sucked 
without it.
*Chad