[GRASS5] New GRASS addons CVS repository?

[Markus Neteler]

On Mon, Mar 20, 2006 at 02:07:02PM +0100, Martin Wegmann wrote:
> On Monday 20 March 2006 09:33, Radim Blazek wrote:
> > On 3/19/06, Markus Neteler <neteler at itc.it> wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > Martin Wegmann and me would like to suggest to
> > > open a new "addons" CVS repository in parallel
> > > to grass6/.
> > > We are receiving more frequently now new code
> > > submissions which may need to be worked on.
> > > An example is r.li where other parties want to
> > > add more fragmentation indices etc. Since r.li
> > > with a single index isn't ready for the main
> > > CVS in my opinion, we should help people to
> > > use the CVS capabilities for distributed
> > > development. However, we should also seek to
> > > accumulate good stuff in a single place rather
> > > than having pieces scattered over the internet.
> > >
> > > Suggestions:
> > > - add new GRASS Extensions Manager (GEM) to main CVS
> > >   when available and functional
> >
> > Yes GEM should be added to CVS.
> >
> > > - create new "addons" (or however named) repo to
> > >   CVS
> >
> > I think that CVS is too rigid for this purpose. I think that to add
> > a new or modified new module to the repository should be
> > as easy as possible, something like Wiki where everybody
> > can register and add a module.
> > We cannot give CVS account to everybody who wrote a simple
> > script but we want to make the script available for everybody.
> 
> I think first it has to be discussed if /addons should be just a place to 
> store scripts or rather to store whole modules for one task (e.g. landscape 
> analysis, hydrology etc.) which can be loaded afterwards via GEM if needed. 
> For scripts an /addons repository would be too much but for GRASS function 
> bundles it is appropriate.
> This would make the main GRASS more slim and each additional function has to 
> be loaded like in R. 
> 
> I think these GRASS function bundles need to have a central place where they 
> can be developed like in cvs or svn and not lost over time. However your 
> point that everybody can not granted cvs access is understandable - either 

Of course CVS write access to the main repository will be handled 
rather restrictive.
But suggestion below:

> there does an alternative exist (separate cvs system for add-ons) or a 
> totally different system to manage these files (e.g. wiki or webcollab 
> http://webcollab.sourceforge.net/index.html but this is rather for single 
> file development). But the latter option would not allow a "real continuous" 
> development like cvs/svn. 
> The complexity of cvs (installation/usage) has to be kept in mind as well, but 
> I am not aware of any easy alternative where somebody can develop code like 
> in cvs. 

Jan Wagner suggested offlist to me to think about SVN migration.
This will offer the possibility to grant write access on a
per-directory base.

In any case an extention manager PERSON is needed. Already today.

> Does anybody know how R is managing its /contrib repositories? Does a person 
> exist who add new modules to cvs which he receives from contributing users? 
> Or does every person has access to the repository? 

Maybe Roger has some insights.

Markus

> regards, Martin
> 
> 
> 
> > When a module is mature enough and it is of general purpose
> > it can be added directly to GRASS CVS.
> 
> 
> 
> >
> > > - use this as "incubator" (Apache speech)
> > > - people can use GEM to add stuff from addons into
> > >   their copy of GRASS
> > > - move stable code, if of interest to the general
> > >   GRASS community, into main CVS repo
> > >
> > > This is very similar to the old src.contrib/ in GRASS
> > > 4.x and 5.x. But in this case it would be a separate
> > > CVS repository to not fill the main CVS repo with
> > > less relevant or unmaintained code.
> > >
> > > r.lake, r.li and other goodies from the addons section
> > > are good candidates for a new "addons" CVS repository.
> > >
> > > Opinions welcome...
> > >
> > > Markus
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > grass5 at grass.itc.it
> > > http://grass.itc.it/mailman/listinfo/grass5
> >
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> 
> -- 
> Martin Wegmann
> 
> DLR - German Aerospace Center
> German Remote Sensing Data Center
> @
> Dept.of Geography
> Remote Sensing and Biodiversity Unit
> &&
> Dept. of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology
> University of Wuerzburg
> Am Hubland
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> 
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-- 
Markus Neteler     <neteler itc it>       http://mpa.itc.it
ITC-irst -  Centro per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica
MPBA - Predictive Models for Biol. & Environ. Data Analysis
Via Sommarive, 18        -       38050 Povo (Trento), Italy