[Potlatch-dev] Codebase and git

[Serge Wroclawski]

On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 4:31 AM, Richard Fairhurst <richard at systemed.net> wrote:
> In the near future it looks likely that P2 will become the default editor on
> osm.org.Consequently we need to move from the 'rapid development' stage to
> the 'mature code' stage, and enforce a bit more rigour in the codebase -
> "with great power comes great responsibility" and all that. :)
>
> In particular, two absolute, non-negotiable rules:
>
> 1. At any given moment, the main P2 codebase needs to be of a quality
> deployable on osm.org.
> 2. The main codebase must always compile without errors or warnings (using
> the recommended compiler setup).
>
> Rule 1 means, for example, no '?' icons and no partly-working functionality.
> If an order comes down from on high (OSMF) that "P2 needs to be able to do
> this" or "P2 must stop doing this", we need to be able to react instantly,
> without spending time fixing up half-completed stuff or drawing icons until
> we have a deployable version once again.
>
> In conjunction with this, we will be moving from svn to git (as used for the
> core Rails port). This will allow people to hack on their own improvements
> in parallel until they're ready for integration into the main codebase. Andy
> will be posting a nice git tutorial to the list in readiness (he doesn't
> know this yet ;) ).

This is a great thing, and for the git uninitiated, there are other
benefits to using git that go beyond parallel improvements for later
integration.

For potatch2, especially, I foresee developers customising it for
various use cases (like I'm doing), and git is very useful here
because it allows someone to customize their instance while keeping up
to date with the core.

This functionality may not seem like a big deal if you're working on
the central PL2, but if you're deploying it, it's a core feature.

- Serge