Re: CVS Update Behaviour

[Noel Yap]

--- Kaz Kylheku <address@hidden> wrote:
> In article
> <address@hidden>, Paul
> Sander wrote:
> >>"patch" has been a "standard" tool in unix
> development for nearly two
> >>decades now.  Prior to that the commonly used tool
> that can do the exact
> >>same job with only slightly less success and using
> the exact same tool
> >>to create the diff, was called 'ed'.  It's been
> around for over three
> >>decades now.  Time to crawl out from under your
> rock and get with the
> >>program Paul!
> >
> >Just because a tool is "standard" does not mean
> it's well-known or
> >well-supported.  40% of the Unix platforms I use
> regularly (Solaris and
> >NetBSD) don't even supply the tool, and I admit
> that this is a much lower
> >number than I expected.  (AIX, HP-UX, and MacOS X
> do supply it.)
> 
> Free software development depends critically on
> patch. Just about anyone
> involved in it must know how to produce and apply
> patches.

I completely agree, but not everyone is doing free
software development.  Are we now also going to limit
ideal use of CVS only to free software development?

> A programmer that doesn't know patch is quite likely
> ignorant of
> free software in general. This in turn suggests that
> the programmer,
> by choice, has seen very little code other than his
> or her own, and that
> of a few immediate colleagues.

This is not my experience at all.  Many very good
developers I know aren't script wizards.  They develop
in C, C++, or Java, but have never had to learn
"patch".  Think about it, "patch" is used to apply
diffs that's probably been sent over to minimize
bandwidth and storage.  Within a corporate environment
(with a closed network), no such mechanism is
necessary.  The network is sufficient to transfer the
entire file.

This is why I've asked Greg (with no response) what
his corporate experience is.  Those who have only
worked with open source have a limited view of what's
really out there.

Noel

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
http://sports.yahoo.com