Re: [boost] codepad code longevity ?

Subject: Re: [boost] codepad code longevity ?
From: OvermindDL1 (overminddl1_at_[hidden])
Date: 2010-01-29 20:17:04

On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 6:09 PM, Dean Michael Berris
<mikhailberis_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 9:05 AM, OvermindDL1 <overminddl1_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>> On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 5:59 PM, Dean Michael Berris
>> <mikhailberis_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>>> On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 8:53 AM, Joel de Guzman
>>> <joel_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>>> [snip]
>>>> the case, then we should ban the use of codepad. People here, myself
>>>> included, need pasted code to be permanent for future reference.
>>>>
>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>
>>>
>>> On github there are things called 'gists' which live as long as the
>>> gist is not deleted by the account owner. Gists are full-on git
>>> repositories that can be forked by others and can be made publicly
>>> available.
>>>
>>> I hope this helps!
>>>
>>> http://gist.github.com/ -- will require that you have a Github account.
>>
>> That has nothing to do with this (and please, people, quit pushing
>> git, if we wanted to use it then we would).
>
> You can use Github without using git. You can use it purely for the
> gist functionality which is equivalent (or even better) than codepad,
> pastebin, or others like it.
>
>> The issue is that instead
>> of people posting short code snippets in-email or as an attachment,
>> they are posting it to something like codepad or one of its clones,
>> thus when someone looks in the boost archive however many years from
>> now, the link is invalid or points to the wrong code if it has been
>> reassigned. Â People can make codepad last indefinitely as well, but it
>> does not do that by default, and most people do not bother to change
>> the options. Â It is *always* better just in inline it or attach it,
>> depending on length. Â Always more easily acceptable and indexable by
>> google then as code that is with the archive will be linked to it,
>> where as it is not if on codepad or anywhere else, it has no reference
>> there.
>
> Sure, but if you really wanted to use something like codepad so that
> the code is accessible from elsewhere, Github gists are one way of
> doing it. And again, you don't have to know or use git to use the gist
> functionality.
>
> You also get versions for free when using gists so that you can look
> at the evolution of the code snippet over time.

Where-as if you post it with the email directly, you get the
advantages of both lifetime and searchability.  Searchability is a
*HUGE* thing with archives, putting code through links kills that.