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the FAQ, and de-emphasizing the whole "project" thing

From: Robert P. J. Day <rpjday_at_crashcourse.ca>
Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:03:48 -0400

   from the svn FAQ (http://subversion.tigris.org/faq.html):

"Why does the entire repository share the same revision number? I want
each of my projects to have their own revision numbers.

   "The global revision number attached to the repository as a whole
is meaningless from a user's perspective. It's an internal mechanism
that accomplishes the goal of the underlying schema design. It just so
happens to be exposed so that the user's interface can sometimes be a
little more convenient than always having to type obnoxiously long
date/time strings.

   "The revision number is only relevant to the repository, and user
convenience. It has no impact on any other factor of what you store in
the repository. Repository revision number bumps aren't nearly useful
enough to be an accurate indication of the real rate of change of a
given code base. There are other more complicated ways to get a much
better picture of a code-base's rate of change."

   i've whined about this before, but i don't think the above is
really as informative as it could be since it doesn't really hammer
home the idea that there is ***no such thing*** as a "project" in
subversion, and i think that misunderstanding still has the potential
to lead newbies badly astray.

   personally, i wish the word "project" was dropped entirely from any
discussion of subversion since it can only confuse the issue. but if
it's going to be addressed in the FAQ, perhaps it should be stressed
that "projects" are simply an interpretation placed on a repo's
contents by the user, and they mean nothing beyond that. that might
clear up some beginner confusion.

rday

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Received on 2008-09-13 16:04:15 CEST

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