[darcs-users] Benefits of patch theory

[Judah Jacobson]

On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 11:45 PM, Michael Olney <mpolney at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've read the UCLA tech report on Darcs patch theory
> (http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jjacobson/patch-theory/), and it seems like
> an interesting basis for version control. However, it's not clear to
> me what the benefits of the theory are in practical terms. Is anyone
> able to explain why might one prefer this model over those that seem
> to underly the more mainstream systems?
>
> - Michael

Hi Michael,

One of the best introductory explanations that I've seen was made by
Ian Lynagh in the following video (re: camp, a potential successor to
darcs):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOGmwA5yBn0
http://projects.haskell.org/camp

Using a theory that consistently ties together changes, merges,
dependencies and cherry-picking has resulted in Darcs providing one of
the simplest yet most flexible user interfaces out of all existing
VCs.  There's also the tantalizing promise of a VC whose operations
are provably correct; though we we're still some distance away from
that goal.

Best,
-Judah