[Laszlo-dev] A question for potential contributors

[Elliot Winard]

The open source zealots that I know would not use p4, but they also aren't
interested in contributing to Laszlo until we compile to something that runs
in an open source container like DHTML or a SVG player.  I doubt we'd have many
of these folks working on Laszlo contributions.

Switching from Subversion to P4, given that the license is free, won't be too
difficult for folks to manage.  I personally use Perforce for work and svn for
small home projects without any problems.
-e

On Fri, 6 Jan 2006, Jim Grandy wrote:

> Hi folks,
> 
> As we start 2006, the OpenLaszlo team is looking seriously at how we might
> improve how we support external contributors. The biggest problem right now is
> that we don't have a way to allow non-Laszlo employees to commit changes
> directly into the sources -- all changes have to be integrated by a team
> member. This is frustrating for our most passionate and dedicated
> contributors, and limits the scope of projects that our partners can take on.
> 
> Currently we use Perforce for internal source management, and the Subversion
> database available on openlaszlo.org is a read-only copy. We will be moving
> the OpenLaszlo sources into their own repository soon, with read-write access
> from the Internet.
> 
> We are considering whether to build this new OpenLaszlo repository using
> Subversion or Perforce. We like Subversion because it is more
> familiar/acceptable to the open source community, it is open source itself,
> and because it has some nice features (like a clean model for disconnected
> clients).
> 
> However, as some of you have discovered, we have run into cases where our
> Subversion database has become corrupted. Our research suggests that this is
> not uncommon with relatively new repositories, and the recommended solution
> appears to be to throw out the repository (including change history) and start
> from scratch with a new database.
> 
> Our alternative is Perforce, which is already integrated into our build and
> backup scripts, and which has an open source license. However, we are
> concerned that some folks will not want to download the p4 client to their
> machine, and that we'll lose participants because of this choice.
> 
> So I guess I have two questions. First, whether anyone can set our minds to
> rest regarding subversion and corrupt databases. And second, if we can't reach
> an appropriate level of confidence with svn, how would you feel about using
> p4?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> jim
> 
> Jim Grandy
> Director of Platform Engineering
> Laszlo Systems, Inc.
> jimgrandy at laszlosystems.com
> 
> 
> 
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