Hi all!

--- ted creedon <ted_creedon at mentorg.com> wrote:
> All,
> 
>  I've been waiting for Configuration Management to be formally discussed.

Me too. :-)
 
> The best thing to point to is Rational's ClearCase product which allows
> CheckIn/Out, branching and merging, etc. Unfortunately it needs a Unix Box and
> stores the S/W configuration in its own file system. And its expensive.

Well, what about CVS? I have recently "scanned" the market for these things and came to the
conclusion that CVS is a very attractive option (for that customer at least - Java coding).
 
> We would be well served if the leading lights took 2 or 3 months off and did an
> OO Design of a similar system, possibly represented in Together (oi.com) which
> could then be parceled out for coding. Anyway, its less effort in the long run
> to get a good design methodology implemented and you need that for Zero Defect
> Software anyway. Which is what Smalltalk is all about.

I have (surprise) also thought about this problem and have a few ideas to share:

1. If we were to build something in Squeak - why reinvent the wheel? We should instead try to
build something that does not exist yet. I have been thinking along the lines of connecting
developers/images on a "loose" basis in a network and propagate (when there is a connection to the
Internet available) who is doing what with what. A decentralised solution.

Think for example how cool it would be to be able to see directly in your browser that some guy on
the other side of the globe is mucking about in some base class and trying to improve aspects of
the system! And to be able to just send him a note giving some advice.

2. I have looked into CVS and really like the way you can work optimistically and then automerge
with conflict detection. Really nice. Of course, CVS is fileoriented but it should be quite easy
to store Squeak classes one by one in directories the way Java does it, right? And that does not
at all have to be visible to the Squeak developer.

If we need a robust solution NOW why not just build a CVS client in Squeak? The protocol is
documented, there are a lot of clients to look at how they did it. I know that Squeakers like to
do everything in Squeak - but hey, if there is a superior solution that we could use TODAY, why
not?

Well, my 2 cents.

regards, Göran

=====
Göran Hultgren, gohu at rocketmail.com, icq#:6136722
GSM: +46 709 472152, http://www.bluefish.se
"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you. Then you win." -- Gandhi
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com