> On Aug 28, 2014, at 3:28 AM, Zé wrote:
>
>> Be definition you have a server since the files are on it. Just run
>> the svnserve deamon on it even if it is your workstation.
>
> This is the problem. I doubt anyone who claims this is a reasonable approach has even considered the problem and thought about how the solution is simply unacceptable.
>
> For example, picture the scenario where someone tries to pitch subversion to a version control newbie to use for such basic tasks such as track changes to a file tree present on his file system:
>
> newbie: "this version tracking thing sounds neat. how do I track this folder, then?"
>
> svn supporter: "well, you start off by installing Apache and mod_dav_svn on your desktop, register a dedicated user account to run the server, and setup a subversion server. Don't forget to read these books on the basics behind server management, or else you risk getting hit by a myriad of security problems..."
>
> Do you believe this is acceptable? Even plain old rsync -a is a far better alternative than this.
>
> Frankly, this approach makes no sense. It makes much more sense and much more efficient to simply abandon subversion and migrate to pretty much any version control system. I'm not aware of any other system who forces users to install, manage and run servers just to track changes made to a file. How is this acceptable?
I understand your frustration but I've been on this mailing list for around a decade and concerns over running a server process are not a major problem for others who have written to this list. That doesn't mean it's not a valid concern, just that Subversion was built with different concerns in mind. I'm not as familiar with e.g. git or hg as I am with svn, so I don't know if they have a solution for the issue that prompted you to start this thread that doesn't involve running a server. If they or another version control system does, and you prefer that, by all means use that system instead of svn. We're not here to "sell" you Subversion; it's free after all. We're only here to help you use Subversion and to understand how it's meant to be used. And as we've explained, it's meant to be used as a centralized server process. Yes, you should acquire some knowledge about how to set up and run that server process. And that's not the only knowledge you need to use Subversion; there's plenty to know and understand
in order to effectively use the svn client program as well. The official book at svnbook.org is an excellent and well-written resource for teaching you what you need to know. But Subversion is not for everybody. For some uses, other version control systems may be a better fit. I encourage you to try several version control systems, and see which one works best for your situation.
Received on 2014-08-29 11:42:32 CEST