Subject: re: RCS _and_ CVS (was: Removing compat/aout)
To: NetBSD Kernel Technical Discussion List <tech-kern@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Greg A. Woods <woods@weird.com>
List: tech-kern
Date: 03/08/2002 21:31:30
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[ On Friday, March 8, 2002 at 20:38:49 (-0500), Todd Vierling wrote: ]
> Subject: re: Removing compat/aout
>
> They're certainly unmaintained, or at least RCS is.
GNU RCS is maintained:
http://www.gnu.org/software/rcs/rcs.html
It just doesn't need a lot of active bug fixing or changing -- it is
very mature and very stable software, and that is a "Good Thing(tm!)"
for software that's included with NetBSD.
> Besides, we don't use
> RCS in any of our source tree; CVS is there. RCS should be ejected with
> extreme prejudice (to catch a phrase)....
No CVS administrator should ever even try to contemplate life without a
working copy of the RCS programs very close at hand. CVS is merely a
front end to RCS (albiet with an interalised and separately derived
implementation of RCS file access routines), and there are several
administrative tasks it cannot do well but which the RCS programs are
more easily capable of doing.
It's also important to know that having a separate (and more complete
and authoritative) implementation available for debugging broken RCS
files is very nearly mandatory, given their low-integrity internal
design.
I.e. if CVS is to be in the tree then RCS really must be there as well.
You should take that as authoritative advice from a (former) CVS developer.
--
Greg A. Woods
+1 416 218-0098; <gwoods@acm.org>; <g.a.woods@ieee.org>; <woods@robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>; VE3TCP; Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>