Re: Subversion error "Can't determine the user's config path" on windows

Jeremy Pereira wrote:

> Windows users, in general, are used to the Windows way of doing things.
> Properly ported applications on Windows should adhere to Windows
> conventions.

Windows users, in general, don't have a clue how anything is implemented (sorry,
but it's true)! For the amount of data that is stored in the .subversion
folder, it is just as reasonable to argue that it should be stored exclusively
in the registry. I'm not going there, BTW. ;~)

IMNSHO, one of the major problems for people who _do_ know what is being done
under the hood is the fact that there are more than one way to do things under
Windows. There is a moving "Windows Way" target which depends on which release
of the OS and sometimes which Patch level (to fix the numerous secutity
failings). Often there are system calls which hide this unnecessary complexity,
but not always.

A proper port isn't always about making the program work using the most finely
gradated platform specific features. It should be about making the program work
identically _in spite of_ platform differences. I would be happy with a SVNHOME
environment variable which would preempt the "Windows" handling; the default
install still does things the current way, but it allows people who want to do
something different a way around that.

John

-- 
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
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