[darcs-users] "push" to create a new repository?

[Dave Roberts]

On Sat, 2005-02-19 at 12:24 -0600, Andrew Wagner wrote:
> I'd like to throw in an emphatic vote in support of a top level put 
> command.  Whether someone is a native english speaker or not, if they 
> are using this program, they have almost certainly used command line 
> ftp/sftp, will be thrilled to see a darcs put, and know exactly what to 
> do with it (assuming they at least know what get means in this 
> context).

Either do it as get/put, to mirror pull/push, or change the command to
"copy" or something like that. In effect, whenever you get/put, you're
really just making a copy of that repository, right? If the syntax is
"darcs copy <source> <dest>" where source or dest can be a URL of
whatever type (file name, http, ftp, or ssh) for a repository.

> Personally, I would advocate a get command that puts when you give it a 
> special flag.  I love symmetry far too much, and if I advocated this, I 
> wouldn't be able to make fun of the classic windows Start -> Shutdown 
> silliness :)

I'm not sure you said this correctly. You would or would not advocate
this? First it sounds like you're arguing for it, then against it. ;-) I
think you're against, but not sure. ;-)

> If you really wanted to have a single command that does this, then 
> "get" should be replaced with a command name that encapsulates the idea 
> that you are duplicating a repository into a new location.  how about a 
> command "dupe"?  If you're inside a repository, the parameter is the 
> destination location.  If you're not inside a repository, then the 
> parameter is the source location.

Dupe sort of has a bad connotation. And copy is the standard file system
command for this on various operating systems (whether it's spelled
"cp," "copy," or whatnot).


> Also, I was quite fond of the optional two letter abbreviations for 
> commands in subversion.  how about rc for record?  (I believe the 
> common pattern is the first two consonants, i.e. MoVe CoPy ReMove)

Don't have aliases if you can help it. Aliases just confuse people
because they look like new commands and it takes mental effort to
disambiguate them. Arch really screwed this up. With darcs, it's far
easier to remember that get and pull really *are* different (though
there is a conversation to be had with whatsnew, changes, and diff,
which are starting to sound alike and sometimes act alike).

-- 
Dave Roberts <ldave at droberts.com>