[Python-ideas] Using only patches for pulling changes in hg.python.org

[Nick Coghlan]

On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 6:11 AM, Brett Cannon <brett at python.org> wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 5, 2010 at 00:30, M.-A. Lemburg <mal at egenix.com> wrote:
> [SNIP]
>> Aside 1: Isn't it interesting that the more we actually think about
>> moving to Mercurial, the more we find that the existing Subversion
>> model of working is actually a very workable model for a large
>> open source project ?!
>
> Not really. The current system works and is understood without
> retraining. The switch to hg has never been about tweaking the
> workflow of committers, but that of contributors.

Although, as with the CVS to SVN transmissions, the workflows of
committers will likely change over time as we become more adept at
exploiting the more powerful tool.

I liked Joel Spolsky's observation that in moving from a centralised
VCS to a distributed VCS, the key idea to wrap your head around is the
shift from managing file (and repository) revisions to coherent
changesets. I suspect that's something that can only happen properly
by using a DVCS for a while.

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia