[darcs-users] Binary patches

[Kevin Smith]

Sean E. Russell wrote:
> Considering that darcs doesn't allow "sub projects", having robust support for 
> binaries is doubly important for support of dependancies.  

I agree with this, although my own needs for binary files are not as 
great as what you described. In my main project at work, we probably 
have several megabytes of binary files, but they rarely change.

> The reason why I'm harping on this now is because this is an architectural 
> issue -- it is something that, if in the future you decide to change, will 
> cause backward compatability issues in the repository.  IE, it is easier to 
> change it earlier than later.

I'm not sure I agree with this, entirely. Adding a new patch type later 
for binary diffs would be easy. The only downside is that older versions 
of darcs will not be able to handle those patches. I really don't know 
how important backward compatibility is.

My current thinking is to postpone any binary patch improvements until 
after 1.0 is out the door. My goal with 1.0 is to be at least as good as 
CVS, which is not known for its stellar handling of binaries :-)

However, if binary diffs would then have to wait until 2.0, I might 
change my mind and think we should rush them in to 1.0. That might be 
too long to wait.

Kevin