Tom Lord <lord@emf.net> writes:
> I'm perfectly happy to stay in the current mutual animosity mode -- I
> think arch would _eventually_ "win", but I still believe that there's
> a deep potential well there that, if we fall into and suddenly start
> cooperating, would lead to a brighter future for all involved.
Hmmm. I was originally planning to not post in this thread. But
there's a claim here that needs to be refuted, so people who are new
to either mailing list don't get the wrong idea.
Please: there is no "mutual animosity mode" here, except in Tom's head.
Most Subversion users would be perfectly happy if Arch solved all the
problems it set out to solve and took over the world. I know I would!
I'd switch to it right away, if that were the case. The last time I
tried Arch (quite a while ago), it didn't do that, but that's okay --
things might have changed. It shouldn't be judged by its early alpha
stages, after all.
The real reason Tom's periodic proposals for some sort of ill-defined
greater cooperation don't get much traction is that they boil down to
a request that Subversion stop in its tracks, reconsider its basic
design decisions, and engage in long discussions of issues that we'd
already hashed out long ago.
There is no way to know in advance whether Tom's proposal is a good
one. We just have to use our best judgement. And the Subversion
developers have (apparently) all come to the same judgement: that the
cost of engaging in the proposed stop-and-talk is higher than the
potential benefit, once you multiply that benefit by the non-zero risk
that, for whatever reason, the benefit will never materialize.
That last bit, the risk that the effort will produce no useful results
but will cost both projects time and mental energy, is the bit Tom
always forgets to factor in. I don't know why he doesn't think it's
important. I certainly think it is -- it's the sole reason I'm not
tempted by his proposal.
Anyway, my point is: I doubt anyone here feels animosity toward the
Arch project or its developers. I know I don't, and I've not seen
anything on this list (nor in IRC) to indicate that others do either.
If Tom tells you otherwise, well, his impression does not match
reality, IMHO. All that's happened here is that some people have made
a decision about how to allocate their own time, and Tom doesn't like
their decision.
I wish Arch luck; and wish also that time were infinite, so there
would be no cost to following other version control projects (and even
participating in them). Alas, that's not this universe, so we direct
our energies as best we can with limited knowledge.
-Karl
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Received on Mon Mar 17 07:31:16 2003