[Gnu-arch-users] Re: tagline robustness

[Miles Bader]

Jason McCarty <address@hidden> writes:
> The additional restrictions ("enhanced discipline," I hope I'm not
> butchering your meaning) do impose some planning and design overhead on
> the programmer, and although that may increase the quality of their
> code, it also increases the difficulty of getting started on a project,

Yes...

Many (most?) people will start with arch by importing an existing source
tree, and expect arch to be a fairly neutral `container.'  If it's not,
there's a not-insignificant chance they'll just give up on arch rather
than changing their programming style.

Maybe they'll see the light later, who knows.  Certainly in my case,
merely having to deal with setting up =tagging-method, and reading the
arch tutorial's discussion of the issue has at least made me a bit more
aware.

If a particular programming discipline is beneficial, then by all means
advocate it -- but trying to `enforce it' to any large degree with arch
(in cases where there's no compelling technical reason to do so) is a
dangerous game for arch.  Maybe when arch has destroyed all opposition
things will be different; we'll see...

[In my mind a bit of `gentle advocacy' via arch is probably a good
compromise -- e.g., make the defaults such that a bit of explicit setup
is required to use your bad old habits / hoary old source tree, but
don't make it too hard.]

-Miles
-- 
Run away!  Run away!