Re: [boost] [git] [modular boost] Switchover schedule proposal

Subject: Re: [boost] [git] [modular boost] Switchover schedule proposal
From: Dave Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-10-27 20:43:00

Daniel Pfeifer <daniel_at_[hidden]> writes:

> 2013/10/27 Dave Abrahams <dave_at_[hidden]>:
>> Antony Polukhin <antoshkka_at_[hidden]> writes:
>>
>>> - Can I merge and delete branches in GIT without affecting the whole system
>>> stability (for example `conversion` library currently contains branches
>>> like `filesystem_V3`)
>>
>> If you're a library maintainer, yes.  The only branches that you must
>> maintain for system stability are "develop" and "master."  However, be
>> aware that some branches in the Boost super-project repository may be
>> referencing commits on your branches.
>
> Do we need all those branches in the super-project?
> If we drop everything but "develop", "master", and the release tags
> from the super-project, then library maintainers could clean up their
> repositories without being afraid of breaking something else.

If we just rewrite those branches to have non-standard branch paths
(e.g. refs/tags/old-branches/<whatever>) the history will be preserved
but hidden.  For example, you won't see these tags when you do a default
checkout.  Then anyone who wants to "re-activate" the branch can just
create a new branch on that commit using a standard path, or rename the
ref.

I think this is probably the right way to go: rewrite all branches but
develop and master (are there any other branches that deserve special
status?) into a non-standard path.  If we can determine which tags are
actual release tags, we might want to rewrite all the others into
non-standard paths.

Thoughts?