Re: [9fans] patch(1)

[Russ Cox <rsc@swtch.com>]

boyd, rounin wrote:

>>what's wrong with them?
>>    
>>
>
>read the archives:
>
>    pull smashed X
>
>read the prusker/wobber paper(s).
>  
>

i'm not convinced you've actually used replica/*.
you have to explicitly ask it to smash your files.
it's very careful not to smash any local changes unless
you explicitly request that.  much safer than rm, for example.

the problem is that it's too easy to think "well, i haven't made
any changes that i really care about", blindly run "pull -s"
and then all of a sudden your /lib/ndb/local has none of your
useful modifications anymore.  a good (g)ui would help here
considerably.  and maybe overwritten files should get backed up
somewhere.  but the architecture of the system is sound.

siphon is intended for a very different task.  the main difference
is that they're trying to present a single file system, just distributed.
as such the changes propagate in both directions and all the replicas
are assumed to be continuously connected.

replica does software distribution, which is one-way.
usually, i don't want to see the changes that other 9fans make -- if
you edit your /lib/ndb/local, those changes shouldn't go back
to sources.  and there's no way that everyone who downloads
a distribution can be expected to be online 24/7.

russ