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diff --git a/www/reviews.wiki b/www/reviews.wiki new file mode 100644 index 0000000..db06398 --- /dev/null +++ b/www/reviews.wiki @@ -0,0 +1,138 @@ +<title>Reviews</title> +<b>External links:</b> + + * [https://www.nixtu.info/2010/03/fossil-dvcs-on-go-first-impressions.html | + Fossil DVCS on the Go - First Impressions] + +<b>See Also:</b> + + * [./quotes.wiki | Short Quotes on Fossil, Git, And DVCSes] + +<b>Daniel writes on 2009-01-06:</b> + +<div class="indent"> +The reasons I use fossil are that it's the only version control I +have found that I can get working through the VERY annoying MS +firewalls at work.. (albeit through an ntlm proxy) and I just love +single .exe applications! +</div> + + +<b>Joshua Paine on 2010-10-22:</b> + +<div class="indent"> +With one of my several hats on, I'm in a small team using git. Another +team member just checked some stuff into trunk that should have been on +a branch. Nothing else had happened since, so in fossil I would have +just edited that commit and put it on a new branch. In git that can't +actually be done without danger once other people have pulled, so I had +to create a new commit rolling back the changes, then branch and cherry +pick the earlier changes, then figure out how to make my new branch +shared instead of private. Just want to say thanks for fossil making my +life easier on most of my projects, and being able to move commits to +another branch after the fact and shared-by-default branches are good +features. Also not having a misanthropic command line interface. +</div> + +<b>Stephan Beal writes on 2009-01-11:</b> + +<div class="indent"> +Sometime in late 2007 I came across a link to fossil on <a +href="https://sqlite.org/">sqlite.org</a>. It was a good thing I +bookmarked it, because I was never able to find the link again (it +might have been in a bug report or something). The reasons I first +took a close look at it were (A) it stemmed from the sqlite project, +which I've held in high regards for years (e.g. I wrote bindings for +it for Mozilla's SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine), and (B) it could run +as a CGI. That second point might seem a bit archaic, but in practice +CGI is the only way most hosted sites can set up a shared source +repository with multiple user IDs. (i'm not about to give out my only +account password or SSH key for my hosted sites, no matter how much I +trust the other developers, and none of my hosters allow me to run +standalone servers or add Apache modules.) + +So I tried it out. The thing which bugged me most about it was having +to type "commit" or "com" instead of "ci" for checking in (as is +custom in all other systems I've used), despite the fact that fossil +uses "ci" as a filter in things like the timeline view. Looking back +now, I have used fossil for about about 95% of my work in the past +year, in over 15 source trees, and I now get tripped up when I have to +use svn or cvs. + +So, having got over typing "fossil com -m ...", here's why I love it so much... + +Point #1: CGI + +Again, this sounds archaic, but fossil has allowed me to share source +trees which I cannot justifiably host in other projects I work on +(they don't belong to those projects), which I cannot host in google +code (because google code doesn't allow/recognize Public Domain as a +license, and I refuse to relicense just to accommodate them), and for +which SourceForge is overkill (and way too slow). With fossil I can +create a new repo, have it installed on my hoster +(https://fossil.wanderinghorse.net), and be commiting code to it within +5 minutes. + +Point #2: Wiki + +I hate wikis. I really do. Always have. They all have a different +syntax and the content tends to get really disorganized really +quickly. Their nature makes it difficult to reorganize them without +replacing old pages with lots of "has been moved to +<nowiki>[TheNewPage]</nowiki>" +links. I'm one of those "code for tomorrow" coders (i.e., code such +that it'll be easy to reorganize/refactor later). I like to document +the same way, and wikis make that problematic. Then again, no +documentation system is really good in that regard. + +That said, fossil has made me love having a centralized, common +documentation platform. Whereas I used to document everything in the +API docs (header files) and often include an ODT file for a library +manual, fossil has become my preferred platform for non-API +documentation because it's just so easy to do. No matter where I am, I +can log in and write (I write a lot). The added ability to export my +wiki pages, edit them in xemacs, and re-import them just makes it +nicer, as I can tweak as much as I want without ending up with 10 +"updated wiki page SoAndSo" messages in the commit log. + + +Point #3: running a server locally + +Fossil runs not only as a CGI, but as a server. I don't WANT to host +my own server (and don't have the rights to on my hosters). I hate +server-side maintenance (a hate born from years of administering +systems). But the server has other uses. When working on the wiki, bug +reports, etc., the local server is *the* way to do it. It's blazingly +fast and much more productive. When you're done, just run "fossil +push" and everything's synced. + + +Point #4: the single-file repository + +Having all controlled content inside a single container file has been +a godsend when it comes to backups and copying/moving a repository. +There are no access or file ownership issues, which are often +problematic with other server-side systems (at least on the initial +install). For about 5 years I administered a CVS repo for a company +for, and every time someone added a directory to the (huge and +dynamic) source tree I had to log in and "chmod 4775" the directory +before others could commit to it. Fossil's model inherently eliminates +that type of problem, and I'm a *huge* fan of solutions which +inherently (that is, due to their very nature) avoid certain +foreseeable problems. The single-file repository model's flexibility +would seem to become more problematic for huge repos (a few hundred +MB+) with many users with differing levels of access (e.g. OpenOffice, +Firefox, or the Linux Kernel), but 99.9% of projects never reach +anywhere near that size or complexity. + + +In summary: + +I remember my first reaction to fossil being, "this will be an +excellent solution for small projects (like the dozens we've all got +sitting on our hard drives but which don't justify the hassle of +version control)." A year of daily use in over 15 source trees has +confirmed that, and I continue to heartily recommend fossil to other +developers I know who also have their own collection of "unhosted" pet +projects. +</div> |
