Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Re: gnuarch 1.2.1 released! (reannouncement)

[Tom Lord]

    > From: Miles Bader <address@hidden>

    > Aaron Bentley <address@hidden> writes:
    > > No, but Blackwell's tla--devo--1.3 branch contains all Tom's changes. 
    > > You can use apply-delta to switch.

    > hmmm, actually `star-merge --reference=TOM' coped

As would be expeted.   You'll get weirdness if you later `star-merge'
from my branch after I've merged those same changess into my branch.

Topologically, we're going from this star topology:


                tom -----branched-----> jblack
                  ^
                   \
                    `----branched-----> miles

to this not quite star-topology (but it looks like one to you if you
use --reference TOM:)


                tom -----branched-----> jblack
                 ^                       
                  \                      | merged
                   \                     v
                    `----branched-----> miles


Now if I merge from jblack, and jblack merges from you, we get:


                tom <-----branched-----> jblack
                 ^                       ^ 
                  \                      | merged
                   \                     v
                    `----branched-----> miles

which is a complete graph and, no, star-merge will have some trouble
with that (as will any system).

The platonic ideal here is:


                              PQM branch  
                       /   ^      ^      ^
                      /    |      |      |
                      v    v      v      v
                   FSF   jblack  miles   lord    ... etc.
                branch   branch  branch  branch 


PQM branch doesn't exist yet and, unfortunately, none of the existing
branches quite serves that role.

-t