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The idea that you build software from a fixed archive is passé. Everything must be a git clone. Or if they don't use git, you muddle along with hg.
by tedunangst 3y ago
The idea that you build software from a fixed archive is passé. Everything must be a git clone. Or if they don't use git, you muddle along with hg.
- rwmj 3y agoYes and no. The other side of the argument is that a tarball offers a point in time snapshot of the code that is smaller, and easier to download since there's no need to interact with a complex internet service. Also easier to cache, mirror and back up a single file - major distros appreciate this because we have to mirror sources into build systems and provide sources on demand to satisfy the GPL. There are of course disadvantages to the tarball approach (like, no history, harder to patch) but sometimes the simpler technology can be more robust.