RE: Path-based access control seems broken

> My question is more general than this. Basically, I need to
> restrict access to a certain directory subtree within our
> repository so only one or two people can access it. (Don't
> ask why. It's just required.) Let's say that the top level of
> the tree is located at /trunk/project/firmware, just to make
> things simple. I can easily add the access restriction for
> this directory and everything works as I would expect.
>
> However, being good Subversionists, we follow the recommended
> practice and make tags and branches by using svn copy. The
> problem is that there will be no access restrictions on the
> firmware directory tree within the copies unless we go back
> to the authz_db file and add them.
>
> I don't want to start a debate about the
> cost/benefits/badness/goodness of using access controls. But
> I wonder if there are other people using it who agree with me
> that this behavior seems to be wrong. I would expect that if
> I make a copy of an access-restricted directory the access
> restrictions will be "sticky" (ooh, that sounded sort of
> CVS-ish, didn't it?) and will apply to the copy as well.

Would be nice, but it just doesn't work like that. It's a pain
if you rename folders too - the access rights don't stay with
the folder. I think really the problem is that access
restriction is a bit of a bolt-on, not a prime design goal of
Subversion.

Incidentally, I have a similar problem to yours. I run a
post-commit hook that looks for folder names being added or
removed that match particular patterns, and regenerates the
access control file from a separate file that maps user names
to roles, if needed. Works very well so far.

regards,

--
Jon Ashley
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