countdown to bzr 2.1

[Ian Clatworthy]

Martin Pool wrote:
> We now have about ten days til the scheduled release of bzr 2.1.0rc1
> <https://edge.launchpad.net/bzr/2.1>, which is the feature freeze date
> for 2.1.0final a couple of weeks later.

> If someone would like to try it, I think now would be a good time to
> deprecate some of the command synonyms we introduced in the very early
> days, like 'clone' for 'bzr branch'.

I'd also love to see 90% of our formats either be made obsolete or
hidden. Try viewing help of any command (like init) that takes a format
option and you'll see 19 formats at least, e.g.
http://doc.bazaar.canonical.com/bzr.dev/en/user-reference/init-help.html.
On systems with plugins like bzr-hg installed, the number is 20 or more.
That's pretty obscene.

I'd like to see that list cut down to:

* --default
* --2a
* --pack-0.92
* --development-subtree.

If desirable, we could also include a --1.x and --1.x-rich-root pair.
I'd suggest x=14 though I'd be fine with x=9 as well. But only add these
if there's a real need to keep them non-hidden.

My guess is that hiding most formats is the best option so that users
still on 1.x formats aren't told "please upgrade from this obsolete
format". For formats prior to pack-0.92, marking them obsolete would be
OK though IMO.

Thoughts? Volunteers to do the patch?

Ian C.