Module layout proposal: Split kdegames-data from kdegames

[Ian Wadham]

On 15/10/2011, at 5:29 AM, Stefan Majewsky wrote:

> ==== EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ====
> 
> I propose to move the data files from the kdegames module into a new
> kdegames-data module to
> 1. facilitate the move of the remaining source code to Git (while a
> method of storing binary data files in Git efficiently is still being
> worked on) and
> 2. enable developers to fetch and compile the kdegames source without
> having to download the data files again.

Reading your proposal carefully, I am not sure exactly what it is you are
proposing.

Are you canvassing an immediate move of KDE Games to git in the
next few weeks (i.e. before the hard feature freeze for 4.8)?  If so,
I am strongly opposed to that occurring at such an inopportune time.
I am responsible, as author or maintainer, for about one eighth of the
file size in KDE Games and I am currently trying to make a large change
to one of the games, KSudoku, to fix a series of bug reports that are
nearly two years old and render the game virtually useless to serious
Sudoku enthusiasts.  I do not wish to change horses in mid-stream.

Or are you proposing an adjustment to the SVN repositories in
preparation for a move to git at some more opportune time, such as
early in the next release cycle?  If there is one ... :-)  If so, can you do
this without disrupting my work over the next few weeks?  I have spent
a couple of months on it already and have no desire to see it go
down the gurgler.

In general, I am opposed to the change to git altogether and I do not
see what the advantages would be in concrete terms at the coding
desk level.  I say this as a veteran source code controller, going
back more years than I care to count.  The truth is that KDE Games
is more or less static, except for the few of us who are still left, many
games are unmaintained and others have large backlogs of bugs
to be fixed.  So why spend our time on a new source code control
system when we do not *have* much time and *it* would not have
much work to do?

Finally, have you fully thought through the implications of the
changeover for all concerned?  I witnessed at first hand on
the build system mailing list the chaos that attended the 4.7
release and the howls from distros.  I do not want KDE Games
to get any egg on its face over this, neither with distros nor
with our end-users.  Nor do I wish to see any games getting
lost because people do not know where to find them.

All the best, Ian W.