Re: Google Summer of Code 2009: GIT

From: david@lang.hm <david@lang.hm>
Date: Mar 20, 2009, 20:50 UTC
Message-ID: <alpine.DEB.1.10.0903201337060.16753@asgard.lang.hm>
In-Reply-To: <alpine.DEB.1.00.0903201033310.10279@pacific.mpi-cbg.de>

On Fri, 20 Mar 2009, Johannes Schindelin wrote:

Show 22 quoted lines

> On Thu, 19 Mar 2009, david@lang.hm wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 20 Mar 2009, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
>>
>>> I'd rather have more file types supported that are useful for the
>>> average user, than a generic XML merge driver that is useful to only a
>>> handful of people.
>>
>> we are both after the same thing,
>
> Apparently not...
>
>> the most use to the average user.
>>
>> you look at SVG, ODF word, ODF spreadsheet, OOXML, etc as completely
>> seperate things that should have support developed seperatly.
>
> No.  I look at SVG, ODF text, ODF spreadsheet, etc as things with
> completely different user interfaces.
>
> And likewise, the merge _helper_, the very thing the user will get to see,
> must have different user interfaces.

I absolutly agree with this. the UI and merge _helper_ tools for these different file formats are completely different.

> And I see much more potential for this project to fail in those different
> user interfaces than something as _trivial_ (in relation) as XML merging.

and the key thing that I am saying is that a properly done XML merge may eliminate the need to do _any_ development of a merge helper tool.

so rather than focusing on what the merge helper tool is going to be and what the UI for that is, I am focusing on the potential to eliminate any need to hae a specific helper tool by making it so that the marked up files can be manipulated with the existing tools for that file type.

David Lang