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    From(Larry McVoy)
    SubjectRe: How/where do we submit patches now?
    DateSat, 06 Jun 1998 14:11:40 -0700
    : Do you know if there was any discussion with Linus about formally 
    : spreading out this responcibility to other trusted people?
    : 
    : I would like to do more for linux, but why put in the time if it's next to
    : impossible to get the stuff even looked at? For instance the initrd-archive
    : thingy I wrote I haven't even tried to fit in anything >.90's. I also wanted to
    : clean some things in the rd code. These haven't been done because it's doubtful
    : they'll ever see the light of day.
    : 
    : With how big Linux is now, it needs to be better orginized.
    
    Yes, there has been some discussion.  Linus acknowledges that there is
    a bit of a problem and is taking some steps to resolve it.  The first
    step was to start using Jitterbug as a patch queue, so at least things
    don't get completely lost.
    
    A longer term answer is also in the works.  I've quit my job to focus
    100% on a new distributed source management system that may help a great
    deal; that remains to be seen.  Linus & I and others have sat down and
    discussed this at length and we are converging on a set of tools which
    will help track things in a distributed manner.
    
    Goals:
    
    	. provide a globally distributed source mgmt system
    	. stick the kernel under source control
    	. turn patches into version controlled things called "change sets".
    	. change sets can carry history (both deltas & comments) so that 
    	  can be used to fan out the load to Alan/David/etc.
    
    Features:
    	. It's not CVS - CVS has one repository and multiple clear text
    	  work areas.  In my stuff, every work area is a repository and
    	  has all the revisions.  So you can work while you are disconnected.
    	. I revision control /everything/ - file contents, file names, 
    	  symbolic tags, etc.  So when you update, renames propogate like
    	  they should.
    	. Free for free software development.
    	. Works quite similarly to what people do now - you mail patches 
    	  around.  The patches have more information in them, they include
    	  the delta comments, tags, renames, etc.  Thanks to Eric Raymond
    	  for that idea.
    	. Change sets let source browsers ask questions like "this line of
    	  code is weird - who put it in and what are all the other lines of
    	  code in all the other files that went in as part of this change?"
    
    Schedule:
    	. My best guess is a working prototype available for public use in
    	  2-3 months.  The base revision control is pretty close to completion
    	  (I've been using it daily for about 6 months, I'm tieing up loose
    	  ends); I need to redo the repository resync / resolve code in C
    	  (it's currently in perl).
    
    More info:
    	. Mail me, lm@bitmover.com, and/or watch
    
    		ftp://ftp.bitmover.com/bitkeeper
    
    Help:	. The most useful thing to me right now is people that have thought 
    	  about source mgmt over the years and can say stuff like "it had
    	  better solve problem XYZ".   I've discussed it with a lot of people
    	  and it seems pretty good, but I like people that want to poke at it
    	  and try and break the model.  I'll have a majordomo list up on
    	  bitmover in a week or so; stay tuned.
    
    	. If you are familiar with SCCS and want to test out the base revision
    	  control, mail me.  If you aren't familiar with SCCS and you are
    	  freaking out because it isn't RCS, fear not - I give you "ci" and
    	  "co" compatible interfaces to the system in addition to the SCCS
    	  interfaces.
    
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