Re: [Monotone-devel] Re: New commands (for mtn, in lua)

[William Uther]

> > One of the reasons why I've switched over to monotone is that it  
> > seperates very cleanly between network commands and non-network  
> > commands.
>
> Exactly! Please keep separate things separate. And KISS, instead of  
> trying to figure out automatically what the user wants.
>
> In my case, I certainly don't want to trigger a sync before each  
> and every update.

I was trying to think of the use case for update without a prior  
sync.  It seems that this is it: if you have lots of projects/ 
branches in a single database, then you might sync once and then need  
to update many workspaces from the sync'd repository.  You don't want  
to sync for each update.

This contrasts with the other system where pretty much each workspace  
has a separate DB.  An update without a sync in this cass is usually  
a noop.  You want a sync with each update and it seems silly that you  
have two commands for the one mental action.

In any case, it seems there is a need for both.  Moreover, it seems  
that both use cases could be quite common - you don't want either  
group to have to use an option every time they update.

This is why I suggested/implemented a "remote_update" command with an  
alias to "rupdate" (which would allow "rup" as a shortened form  
too).  The 'up' command is a local update, and the 'rup' command is a  
remote update.

Re KISS.  Everyone considers an orthogonal command set the ultimate  
in KISS - one command for each basic action.  But that is not the  
only important goal.  You want the orthogonal commands aligned with  
what the user frequently does.  (If this was a true vector space,  
then there are many orthogonal bases for the space - each rotated or  
stretched from the others.  Some are better than others for  
particular problems.  In general you want to pick one aligned with  
your principle directions.  Think principle component analysis -  
aligning the basis with the eigenvectors of the space.)

Given a choice between a truly orthogonal command set, and a command  
set that aligns well with the really common use cases (with commands  
for the rarer use cases being orthogonal), I'll take the well aligned  
set.

Be well,

Will        :-}