Re: future of cvs

[address@hidden]

Paul Sander wrote:
> > I wonder how other projects using cvs solve this?
>
> There are a number of methods listed in the CVS manual.  The ones 
> discussed most often in this forum are to export/rearrange/import into a 
> new module, do remove/add/commit sequences with suitable comments, and 
> copy RCS files in the repository.  I have personally had some success 
> creating new directory structures in the repository and then 
> hard-linking the RCS files into the new structure.  But all of the 
> methods described have serious drawbacks.

Yes. I slowly start to realize this. Written in the manual is one thing, 
but when it comes to pressing buttons, is another story, that's why I 
wanted to ask.

> > Is it possible the repository to be touched carefully for 
> > file/directory renaming purpose? I read somewhere that the human 
> > readable form of the cvs repository is an advantage over subversion. 
> > What will happen if we simply rearrange the repository (the folders 
> > and ,v files there) and checkout again?
>
> You can, but if you do the reorg in-place then you lose the ability to 
> recover old configurations in the proper shape.  If you copy the RCS 
> files in a new directory structure with the new shape, then you double 
> the size of your repository and retrain the users.  There are also 
> hidden costs with respect to having the users repopulate their 
> workspace, debugging problems when they don't, and having your existing 
> baselines go out of date.

Yes, I understand this.

I figure out that in a small team and relatively mature project it would 
not hurt to copy the repository, rearrange and check out new, locking 
the old repository for historical purposes.

But what is clear is that there are different methods, with different 
pros and cons and one should choose.

What is interesting is that the need to rearrange seems quite pressing 
for every serious project, but cvs can not address it and this does not 
seem to be in plan. Is this a design problem - cvs builds on top of the 
rcs files and they do not support such expansion?