[webkit-dev] Moving to Git?

[Alexis Menard]

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 7:10 PM, Maciej Stachowiak <mjs at apple.com> wrote:
>
> It seems like there are a couple of different issues here that affect how we
> do version control. Currently we have an SVN primary repository, some
> contributors use SVN, and others use git via git-svn.
>
> It seems like there are two possible changes we can make, and it is not
> really clear to me which is being advocated:
>
> 1) Offer only a git repository; everyone uses git.
> 2) Use a git central repository; but some form of svn access is provided (is
> this even possible?)
>
> And then there is the status quo:
>
> 3) Continue doing what we're doing; central repository is svn, but anyone is
> free to use git and we try to make it convenient to do so.
>
> One interesting asymmetry here is that, while many git users proseltyze git
> and advocate total removal of svn support from our tools and infrastructure,
> no one seems to advocate completely removing git support. So I left that
> option off. There are also other distributed version control systems out
> there such as Mercurial or Bazaar, but no one seems much in favor of using
> them for WebKit, so those options are also left off.
>
> If we are to assess these options in a deeper way than just everyone saying
> what they personally like, we need to identify the pros and cons of options
> (1) and (2) relative to (3). That's assuming (2) is even possible. It seems
> like there are at least a few factors to consider:
>
> A) Future quality of life for current git users.
> B) Future quality of life for current svn users.
> C) Benefits of the master repository being either git or svn, regardless of
> what clients are supported. (For example, many folks seem to think
> human-understandable revision identifiers is a benefit of the master being
> SVN).
> D) Cost to the project of maintaining support for two different version
> control systems.
>
> Git advocates on this thread have mostly focused on convincing svn users how
> much they'd like using git instead. It seems at least some svn users do not
> believe their quality of life would improve by switching to git, including
> some who have actually tried git. No one has really identified what benefits
> there would be to git users if a change is made. Could someone describe
> those?

To the global infrastructure :
- Local history for git. svn log access to the server every time you
call that command. Will improve the load of the server.
- Performance of checkouts/pull as data are send compressed from the server.

To git user :
- Using git push rather than having to use git-svn (which you need to
keep in sync).
- Simplified workflow, we don't need to mess with git-svn.
- Companies who fork (we all do) can simplify their workflow a bit
regarding branches.

To svn user :
- Conflict resolving much easier and performant than svn (we have
drivers for changelogs and the default one are much better than svn).
- Local history/blaming/...
- Proper diff coloration (though I'm sure you guys have some magic
scripts using colordiff).
- The staging area, upload what you want/need and keep some work local
- Smaller checkouts

The real downside is for the svn users to learn a bit git workflow.

I'm forgetting stuff for sure.

>
> Regards,
> Maciej
>
>
> On Mar 8, 2012, at 12:13 PM, Antonio Gomes wrote:
>
> (For those valuable contributors who are against Git and have manifested
> somehow here, please do not take it personally)
>
> IMO, none of the arguments used here so far seem like a real problem for a
> switch. Of course, SVN people would have to adapt their workflow and it
> could take days (no more than that, trust me), but it is for a greater goal
> at the end.
>
> In my opinion, SVN concepts are completely obsolete these days. It is hard
> to me to even hear someone arguing in favor of SVN against GIT, but I
> respect anyone's opinion. I just do not feel them strong enough given the
> whole context.
>
> On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 3:05 PM, Joe Mason <jmason at rim.com> wrote:
>>
>> It seems to me that there's no need to use multiple local branches in git
>> if you find it confusing - it's an additional feature, but I don't see
>> anything that requires it.
>>
>> What workflow do you have that requires you to have multiple branches
>> locally in git, and how do you solve it in svn without using branches?
>>
>> What precisely do you find difficult about merging remote changes, and how
>> is the svn equivalent easier?
>> ________________________________
>> From: webkit-dev-bounces at lists.webkit.org
>> [webkit-dev-bounces at lists.webkit.org] on behalf of Ryosuke Niwa
>> [rniwa at webkit.org]
>> Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2012 3:00 PM
>> To: Ashod Nakashian
>> Cc: WebKit Development
>> Subject: Re: [webkit-dev] Moving to Git?
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 11:24 AM, Ashod Nakashian
>> <ashodnakashian at yahoo.com<mailto:ashodnakashian at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>> >And that's a show stopper for me. For build bot maintenance, regression
>> > fixes, etc... being able to easily tell the number of commits between two
>> > revisions (in my head as opposed to using a tool) or the ordering of commits
>> > is crucial.
>>
>> I think this is an interesting point. It seems there are two solutions. We
>> can enforce fast-forward as many have pointed out and we can maintain an SVN
>> mirror. Although I don't like the idea of maintaining an SVN repo, and it's
>> almost universally agreed that git offers superior tools to SVN.
>>
>> I don't think so. I like the simplicity of svn. While git client works
>> great, I always get frustrated by the complexity of having multiple branches
>> locally and the amount of work required to merge the remote changes on the
>> branch I'm working on.
>>
>> - Ryosuke
>>
>>
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>
>
>
>
> --
> --Antonio Gomes
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-- 
Alexis Menard (darktears)
Software Engineer
INdT Recife Brazil