Re: [Plplot-devel] PLplot 6 and git

[David M. <da...@as...>]

Hi, Phil et al.,

On May 23, 2015, at 1:23 AM, Phil Rosenberg wrote:

> I could make one last alternative suggestion. We could have a private git site. This could have separate 5.8 and 6 branches. Then when we are ready to merge we can rebase the branch, push it to our sf repo and close the site.

I'm not an active PLplot developer, just a lurker on the list, so feel free to disregard my comments.  I like your suggestion for having separate 5.8 and 6 branches, but I wonder why people feel the need to keep them in a separate (possibly even "private") repository.  Why not just create the "plplot-6" (and related) branch(es) in the public repository right now (leaving "master" as the de-facto "plplot-5.8" branch)?

If it is motivated by a desire to adhere to the rebase-only workflow, yet it causes you to setup private repositories and/or email multiple (possibly conflicting) patches around, then you're not really taking full advantage of what git does.  Maybe it's time to re-examine the original motivations for the rebase-only workflow to see whether they carry the same weight as before.  I think the migration from svn to git, both technically and mindset-wise, was one of the major reasons for choosing the rebase-only workflow.  Maybe that's not so important anymore?

A fairly significant advantage (IMHO) to keeping 5.8 and 6 development in one repository is that it makes it much easier to diff between versions.

Just some thoughts,
Dave