bzr-colo: wow

[Neil Martinsen-Burrell]

On 2010-09-27 18:28 , Martin Pool wrote:
> On 27 September 2010 23:11, Jelmer Vernooij<jelmer at samba.org>  wrote:
>> On Sat, 2010-09-25 at 10:38 +1000, Martin Pool wrote:
>>> I've just started using bzr-colo
>>> <http://doc.bazaar.canonical.com/plugins/en/colo-plugin.html>  for all
>>> my work, and I have to say it's really very slick.  If you haven't
>>> tried it I recommend you do.
>>>
>>> Perhaps we can pull this together with Jelmer's name branches patches
>>> and with looms as a built-in facility.
>> It can't unfortunately, as it doesn't introduce a new directory format.
>>
>> lp:bzr-colocated does introduce a new directory format specifically to
>> support colocated branches, but as colocated branch support is
>> incomplete in bzr at the moment it's not really useful at the moment (as
>> opposed to lp:bzr-colo).
>
> But it seems to me perhaps we could make them converge, so that bzr
> colo detects a colo-ified .bzr even though it doesn't have a specific
> format marker, and then provides that abstraction of multiple higher
> branches to the ui layer.  I haven't actually done it but it doesn't
> seem like it would be impossible or unreasonably gross.

Indeed, it is my hope that when colocated branch formats land in bzr 
core, that the plugin will support the new formats with the same UI, at 
least until such a time as the bzr core UI for dealing with multiple 
named branches is mature.  Then, I will be happy if the plugin withers 
away and dies because no one ever needs it again.

My goal in writing the plugin (in addition to simply wanting to work 
this way) was to start facing the UI and workflow issues now, rather 
than after the feature is in bzr core.  If a UI transplant from bzr-colo 
to bzr core makes sense then I'm all for it, but I don't honestly think 
that will be the best way forward.  The bzr-colo commands are 
intentionally segmented from the bzr core commands so that the core can 
evolve the UI that works there without me needing to constantly update 
the plugin to match.

-Neil