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Re: Feature Request : More configurable context menu

From: Simon Large <simon.tortoisesvn_at_googlemail.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:13:14 +0100

2008/7/24 Robert Pearce <robert.pearce_at_pi-shurlok.com>:
> Stefan Küng <tortoisesvn <at> gmail.com> writes:
>
>>
>> Could you please describe one real "desaster" that might happen if
>> someone uses the "create repository" function the wrong way? Because I
>> don't see one...
>>
> It's not that I think it's likely to lead to disaster. It's that those
> VSS-loving hardware engineers and quality managers make a mess of something and
> raise hell about how disastrously bad SVN is. One of them managed, by means
> entirely unknown to him, to not only create a local repository within a working
> copy, but to check that directory structure into the real repository. And his
> boss used it as yet one more reason we should have stayed with VSS yadda yadda
> yadda.

Ouch. I feel your pain :-(

I have to say that event sounds like sabotage. Even allowing that
there may be a bug which allows you to create a repository within a
WC, in order to commit unversioned items you have to go through the
commit dialog and select them, or maybe click on 'Select all'. If
someone is determined to make it go wrong, they will succeed. Another
way would be to drag and drop your windows directory into a working
copy in Windows explorer and commit. Admittedly VSS makes it harder to
add stuff

> I'm not one of those who say "if the free software community want to gain
> acceptance they must..." but I'm working with people who won't accept anything
> non-commercial (or even non-Microsoft) unless it's demonstrably easier to use,
> more whizzy, prettier, more loser-friendly, etc. etc. Pointing out that VSS is
> hopelessly broken while SVN works right just won't win the argument, and if they
> can point to places where they've got SVN to do something undesirable it's just
> another thorn in my side. I was hoping I could just tell them to turn off the
> unwanted options, and they wouldn't be able to get it wrong. Instead you want me
> to continue trying to educate them as to why the options they're never going to
> need are actually useful to experts. That won't work - they always come back
> with "but it has to be used by non-experts".

It sounds like what you really need is a training session for your
managers and engineers - show them why it's better than VSS. Apart
from VSS's brokenness, TortoiseSVN is also whizzier, prettier and more
user-friendly IMHO, and I speak as one who came from VSS and only
started on subversion because my new boss would not pay for revision
control (zip files are good enough). If you can get them on side, they
will be less hostile when there are things they don't understand.

As I said before, local repositories are ideal for non-experts so they
can practice on a disposable local repository before letting rip on
the real one. But I see your point.

Simon

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Received on 2008-07-24 16:13:29 CEST

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