Re: Older versions through http-repository browsing

Matthias Waechter wrote:

> Well, then you need a policy that forbids creating tags with names
> reserved for future use. What would you do if someone accidentially
> creates a tag named "release-2.5.1" if should've been "release-2.4.1"?
> Then you have a useless nightmare of deactivating the hook script,
> changing the tag (renaming the directory) and re-activating the hook
> script.

That's a management issue, not a software issue.

If this is your particular itch, feel free to start working up a spec
for discussion. I doubt trying to bully the developers here into adding
belt and braces[1] for a feature that most people manage through policy
isn't going to work.

> If someone wants to refer to a version of a tag (and IMHO he always has
> to), he just mentions the revision. So do the Subversion developers when
> they refer to specific versions of files on the SVN-head (trunk).

You are conflating two completely seperate workflows. Tags are for
released code (and indeed this is exactly how Subversion manages their
own repository); you wouldn't ever need to tag each revision. On the
trunk, however, and specifically in a _single project_ repository, it is
completely reasonable for the developers to internally use the global
revision number as a short hand for a set of changes in a rapidly
changing repository.

> That's what you have to do if you don't trust tagging operations.

And here is the crux of your problem. _You_ don't trust your users to
follow a policy (whatever it might be) and you want the software to
protect you from your users. _We_ don't have a problem establishing a
policy and whacking anyone who violates it. Since every tree change is
versioned (modulo revprops), it is always possible to use other means to
correct any violation (but it might be inconvenient).

There are plenty of much more important (IMHO) features to get into
Subversion before something like a flexible policy manager gets to the
top of the list (locking, true renames, and foreward references, not to
mention a SQL repository).

John

1. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/61250.html

-- 
John Peacock
Director of Information Research and Technology
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4501 Forbes Boulevard
Suite H
Lanham, MD  20706
301-459-3366 x.5010
fax 301-429-5748
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@subversion.tigris.org
For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@subversion.tigris.org