Re: debian-lex

[ter <et@ihear.com>]

On Tue, 2009-03-10 at 07:18 +0100, Andreas Tille wrote:
> On Mon, 9 Mar 2009, ter wrote:
> 
> > Just did a non-user checkout. So my svn shibboleth is OK (I use bzr
> > myself, which can work with just http+ssh. But doesn't look like alioth
> > supports that).
> 
> Supports what?  Alioth has bzr in principle and some projects are using it.
> But we had enough discussion about competing Vcs systems.  IMHO, the blends
> stuff is currently simple enough to be handled with any Vcs so there is no
> reason to change.
Just expressing my personal unfamiliarity, and certainly not incitement
to start a vcs war. But it looks like all the vcs's really provide the
same basic commands, so I am getting the hang of svn.

>   I have no idea whether http/https WebDAV extension is
> installed on Alioth - is there any advantage over pristine anonymous svn?
May not be any advantage - just provides another view, without any
vcs-specific encumbrance - may not be worth the hassle, and I am not
asking for it.

> 
> > I can't do a svn+ssh checkout yet - I assume it's
> > because my key hasn't been cron'ed, and not because I made a mistake.
> > I'll try again later.
> 
> You should be able to use your password in case the key is not yet propagated.
> If it does not work after 48 hours just contact alioth admins.
I made a mistake after all - used the wrong key.

> 
> > Also if those who have been active on the wiki already know which or all
> > of the listed non-Debian packages are active, and relevant, or have used
> > them, please help out.
> 
> Checking for activity is vey important.  I learned that there are many
> "one man show" projects popping up in these special fields and if these
> people fail in forming a community around the project in most cases it
> will die (when real life draws the interest of the programmers in different
> directions).
In defense of "one man" or "one woman" shows - they could yield that
catalyst we are looking for. If that one man has persisted for the last
5 years, maybe there is value in his scratching, even if he were to lose
the itch. It's a FOSS strength to reuse his work even after he leaves.
As you said, this happens frequently in "special fields". I think
debian-lex is a hard problem because it is trying to coalesce a bunch of
"special fields", which in this case are layers of bureaucratic
practices on top of myriad legal systems on top of many languages.

Regards,
Elaine