[MUD-Dev] Object and class heirarchies -- are they really necessary?

[J C Lawrence]

On Tue, 28 Mar 2000 18:47:50 -0800 (PST) 
Par Winzell <zell at alyx.com> wrote:

> This is very exciting! I spent some time searching the net for
> library implementions of RCS, but failed utterly. 

SGI did one built atop GNU RCS.  I don't know what happened to it
except that the GNU RCS maintainer refused the patch (for reasons
unknown to me).  You could probably try pinging Ariel or Kevin (see
SGI's freeware web pages) if you were really interested.

Larry McVoy of course has his own implementation of SCCS (which is
generally a preferable design) and is now pretty well wrapped with
moving all of the basic NK functionality into a library with the
various core executables being just calls to entry points in the
library.  His last statement was that the current cut is likely to
be the last beta cut before first release.

> I was ready to call binaries for the revision control aspects of
> the Skotos development system, due for implementation in the weeks
> to come. I'll definitely take a closer look at BitKeeper when they
> do their source release.

Here's hoping for something in the next week or two.

Then again, he's pretty damned free with copies now he's got his
license settled down if you just ask for them.  Drop him an email --
ask for a copy.  You'll likely get one by return email.

> Revision control on a file by file basis is one thing, but yes, as
> you point out, being able to do release-style state snapshots is
> where the real benefits would lie -- at least for emergency
> recovery purposes...  

I see that as but part of the picture:

  -- How about easily moving components and all their dependencies
between servers?

  -- How about having a single server instance running the same code 
base simultaneously at multiple revision levels?

  -- How about knowing exactly what was installed on a given server,
and exactly what edits/deviations had been mde since then as a
system-wide (not per-object) view?

  -- How about the cannonical user-programmer/helper who goes off in
a snit and now insists that all their prior work be withdrawn from
use?

The benefits are significant and far reaching if the base system is
down well.

> It's possible to get a little carried away here, but there's no
> reason not to start simple and grow more power in time.

True.

--
J C Lawrence                              Internet: claw at kanga.nu
----------(*)                            Internet: coder at kanga.nu
...Honorary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...


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