Linus Tries Out BitKeeper

Flammon writes: "Linus has been overloaded with patches for a while and recently the issue started to become hot again. In an unprecedented move, Linus has started using BitKeeper, as reported by Linux Today. The benefits of BitKeeper are already showing from the large amount of detail provided in the latest unstable kernel pre-release." eirikref adds: "Read Linus' own statement and take a look at the BK web interface."

Comments

Re:Linus not getting enough respect

[Hard_Code]

"It's his friggin' hobby, after all. If people don't like the way he deals with it, maybe they ought to go work for a more personable coder on another OS, like, say, Theo De Raadt."

Um, except that NOBODY WORKS FOR LINUS! Linux isn't Linus's ball anymore to take away when he doesn't like how people are playing the game. That said, I think he's been a wonderful leader and manager, and is obviously opening up to suggestions. But it is stupid and insulting to say that people who aren't satisfied with Linus's management should just suck it and pick another OS. Linus himself would tell you that Linux is more the community's than his.

architecture problem, not SCM problem

[markj02]

The problem with Linus getting overloaded is not a problem with SCM, it's a problem with the Linux kernel itself: too many kernel enhancements and bug fixes (apparently) require patches all over the kernel. What we really need is a more flexible way for extensions to hook into the kernel and override existing kernel functionality.

There are lots of ways of providing such hooks. Perhaps the most compatible with the Linux kernel mindset would be something similar to Emacs-hooks: replace most kernel functions with variables holding function pointers to the actual code and provide APIs for manipulating those hooks.

No free alternatives?

[leandrod]

I did a superficial investigation on source control systems, and found some very interesting really free ones, like Aægis.

Does someone know if free alternatives to BK were considered, and if so why a semi-free one was choosen? If BK was better, specifically how it compared to Aægis and other alternatives?