[Python-Dev] Looking for VCS usage scenarios

[David Ripton]

On 2008.11.05 11:09:24 +0000, Paul Moore wrote:
> An average user (ie, not a core developer) finds an issue, and has an
> idea how to fix it. He raises a tracker item, checks out the Python
> sources, makes a fix, and wants to upload it to the tracker. Key
> points here are the initial work needed to grab a development
> checkout, and the ability to bundle up a fix for upload to the
> tracker. (I'm specifically thinking of a casual user, not a developer
> who already has a Python checkout to work on).
> 
> I'll freely admit a (not very) hidden bias here - the slowness of an
> initial clone (or going through the "download a shared repo, unpack
> it, create a branch and update" rigmarole) makes this a nasty test for
> Bazaar. But I do nevertheless think it's an important use case, as
> it's all about encouraging casual users to contribute.

All timings very approximate:

Time for average user to check out Python sources with bzr: 10 minutes

Time for average user to check out Python sources with git or hg: 1 minute

Time for average user's trivial patch to be reviewed and committed: 1 year

I love DVCS as much as the next guy, but checkout time is so not the
bottleneck for this use case.

-- 
David Ripton    dripton at ripton.net