[wp-hackers] Switching from SVN

Curtis Work curtis at curtismchale.ca
Thu Dec 9 14:47:04 UTC 2010


I know the only reason I have put a plugin up is because of SVN as it's always seemed a bigger PITA than Git. 

Curtis McHale
Http://www.curtismchale.com
604.751.3482

On 2010-12-09, at 5:15, Piyush Mishra <me at piyushmishra.com> wrote:

> Git is a good option
> 
> On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 6:03 PM, scribu <mail at scribu.net> wrote:
> 
>> I would like to start what will probably turn out to be a premature
>> discussion, namely that of switching core development to a distributed
>> version control system.
>> 
>> == Scenario ==
>> 
>> I'm a developer (without commit access) who wants to improve a certain
>> feature in the WordPress core.
>> 
>> It doesn't even have to be a big enhancement, like the rework I had to do
>> in
>> my GSoC project (ajaxify the admin list tables), just something that
>> requires touching more than a dozen lines of code.
>> 
>> = Current workflow =
>> 
>> Initial phase:
>> 
>> 1. I do a svn checkout of trunk.
>> 2. I make my modifications.
>> 3. I generate a patch and upload it to the ticket.
>> 
>> Feedback phase:
>> 
>> 4. Other devs apply my patch and test.
>> 5. I make improvements and update the patch.
>> 6. Goto step 4.
>> 
>> Maintenance phase:
>> 
>> 7. Update patch against latest trunk and re-upload it.
>> 
>> Integration phase:
>> 
>> 8. A lead dev commits my patch.
>> 
>> 
>> = Better workflow =
>> 
>> Initial phase:
>> 
>> 1. I fork the main repo.
>> 2. I make my modifications and commit to my fork.
>> 3. I issue a pull request to the main repository.
>> 
>> Feedback phase:
>> 
>> 4. Other devs clone my fork, test and review individual commits.
>> 5. I make improvements and do further commits on my fork.
>> 6. Goto step 4.
>> 
>> Maintenance phase:
>> 
>> 7. I periodically merge changes from the main repository.
>> 
>> Integration phase:
>> 
>> 8. A lead dev merges in all or some commits from my fork to the main
>> repository.
>> 
>> == Discussion ==
>> 
>> From IRC:
>> 
>> (01:21:42 PM) nacin: A few of us had the discussion [switching to git] a
>> few
>> months ago. Quick hits:
>> 1) Our infrastructure, and Automattic's, is heavily SVN. It will take a
>> serious reinvestment for everything to change over (imagine a rewrite of
>> /extend/plugins/), and it needs to be done for well-founded reasons, not
>> just potential improvements.
>> 
>> Can't argue with that. This would not be an easy undertaking, for sure.
>> 
>> 2) Git is great, but the software that surrounds it needs more time to
>> develop. Windows clients, web interfaces, etc.
>> 
>> I looked at a site that uses trac + git integration and indeed it was
>> nowhere near what you would expect, after having worked with github.com,
>> for
>> example.
>> 
>> even if GitHub were open, it's project management features are minimal.
>> jQuery uses github + trac, which is not ideal, I would think.
>> 
>> The only open web interface that would support the proposed workflow, as
>> well as have more than basic project management features would be
>> launchpad,
>> which uses bazaar.
>> 
>> If wp.org were to start using launchpad, it could also be used for
>> individual plugins and theme repos too, instead of the combined (and
>> overcrowded) svn repos we have now, which would be very nice.
>> 
>> 3) A few of us are not convinced that moving from a patch-based workflow is
>> beneficial in all but the rarest of cases.
>> 
>> With this one I have to disagree.
>> 
>> Given the right interface, reviewing commits is much better than having to
>> go over all the code in a series of patches, over and over again, trying to
>> guess the differences between them.
>> 
>> Not to mention the convenience of local commits, compared to re-uploading
>> new versions of patches.
>> 
>> Let the opinions fly.
>> _______________________________________________
>> wp-hackers mailing list
>> wp-hackers at lists.automattic.com
>> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-hackers
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Regards
> Piyush Mishra
> http://www.piyushmishra.com/
> Life's Short, Live it to the maximum
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