Re: [Gnu-arch-users] feature plans from over here....

[James Blackwell]

I like the idea conceptually, but I think it could stand an improvement
or two...


1. I really like the role based setup, in which there's a (still human
readable) .arch-params equivilant. However, rather than tying the role
to the my-id, I think we should have "role names" instead. These names
would fit the format of [a-zA-Z0-0_-]+. For example, valid role names
would be "arch", "archdev", "canonical" and "default". When a new user
is set up for the first time, put them in the "default" role. We want
this change because it shortens what users have to type. We don't have
to worry about namespace changes because I think these role names should
be local.

2. re archive aliases. Nah. I think we should have fully qualified
aliases. I.E. jbdev expands to address@hidden/tla--devo--1.2, 
tomtla expands to address@hidden/tla--devo, so forth and so on.

3. Re: Keeping all of the archive locations in one file: You must have
read my mind, because Robert and I discussed his just the other day.

The rest of it, I think I like it as is, though I'm a little nervous on
he transactualizinaterating .arch-params, particularly when it comes to
merging hooks.


Tom Lord wrote:
> We plan to:
>
>   ~ add support for multiple identities
>
>     You should be able to have multiple arch user ids.
>     You should be able to set various parameters (e.g.
>     your archive registrations) based on which of your
>     user ids you are using.
>
>
>   ~ clean up archive and mirror registration
>
>     The little hack of naming archives with "-MIRROR" or
>     "-SOURCE" is fundamentally lame.
>
>     We plan to clean up the database of registered archives
>     so that you can have one record that lists all the locations
>     for a given archive and enumerates the mirroring relationships
>     among them.   
>
>     Related to that, we'll add some stuff so you can configure
>     mirroring rules and have the rest be automated: For example,
>     statically remember that a mirror should be "pulled on demand"
>     or "pushed after commit".    The ~/.arch-params database will 
>     be expanded to allow such policies to be recorded.
>
>
>   ~ add archive aliases
>
>     Yes, we'll add short-names for archives.
>
>     Think how nicely this works out in combination with multiple
>     identities:  we can make the short-names for archives
>     identity-specific.  
>
>     So, while I'm wearing my Arch Maintainer hat, the short archive
>     nickname "mainline" will mean one thing.  While I'm wearing my
>     Pika Maintainer hat, "mainline" will mean something else.
>
>
>   ~ transactionalize ~/.arch-params
>
>     A special case of using arch would be using arch to maintain
>     your ~/.arch-params directory.
>
>     We plan to build in that special case and add some high-level
>     commands to make it easy to use.
>
>     One interesting idea to consider is what happens if I publish my
>     ~/.arch-params and you want to merge it into your ~/.arch-params.
>
>     "Merge", in this case, can have some very specific meanings.  You
>     can merge *far* more intelligently if you know that what you are
>     merging is a ~/.arch-params than if you try to merge generically.
>     We plan to add some fancy merging support for ~/.arch-params
>     settings.
>
>
>   ~ allow other directories
>
>     Of course, the well known thing we need ---
>
>
>       % tla --params DIR
>
>     to use DIR instead of ~/.arch-params
>
>
> There's more than what I've listed above but that should give the
> general flavor.
>
> Objections, ideas, etc.?
>
> This work will, I believe, begin to:
>
>    ~ build-in to tla the core functionality of a super-mirror
>
>    ~ simplify the new-user experience when joining a new arch-using
>      project (just merge in the official ~/.arch-params of the 
>      upstream project)
>
>    ~ simplify being a "site maintainer" for a large collection
>      of arch archives (both master and mirror)
>


-- 
James Blackwell          Try something fun: For the next 24 hours, give
Smile more!              each person you meet a compliment!

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