Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>]

Hi,

The github mirror has changed to master rather than develop (again).

What do we need to do to get this fixed?

Would a better solution be just work in master and have a released/stable branch in GIt?

Thanks,
Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>]

Hi,

Just to make it clean which repo I'm talking about - here's the link.

https://github.com/apache/flex-sdk

Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>]

Hi,

Change that to master is 6 month behind with a minor update (for 4.9.1) 3 months ago.

Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>]

Hi,

> How does defaulting to master fix this issue? Isn't it user error?

Yep it is user error but doing so would help minimise those sort of errors.

> Our documentation on the website very clearly shows how to checkout from
> the develop branch.

As does the readme and several other places but I guess people don't always read or understand the instructions.

> This is a problem with how Apache Infra is hooking into the external tool.

With github that's correct but other places have had similar issues (eg ohloh.net)

> Better messaging?
Perhaps users/people outside the project may not know the details and it's easy fpr them to make wrong assumptions.

> Did mentors advice us to use master branch as default? Please point to the
> thread?
http://markmail.org/message/wxnrrtcvi2bmgcdv

It's re SVN and working in trunk which is equivalent.

See also the Git vote discussion thread(s).

>> 6. Not in line with other Apache projects.
> 
> Examples?

Some examples include:
https://github.com/apache/cordova-ios
https://github.com/apache/lucene-solr/tree/trunk
https://github.com/apache/couchdb
https://github.com/apache/subversion/tree/trunk (although it also have a large number of branches)
https://github.com/apache/tomcat
https://github.com/apache/httpd/tree/trunk

With with a few it a little hard to tell but I've not been able to find one into one that doesn't update trunk/master frequently.

> On the contrary.  Having a develop branch ensures that bad check-in does
> not pollute the main codebase.

A check can be easily reverted/rolled back and with Git's easy branching it should be easier to keep untested/unstable code out of master. If we worked in master there would be far less work/time spent merging or no need or merge at all in a lot of cases. Makes making releases easier.

Users want 1) release builds 2) latest stable build 3) latest build, currently we can only do 1 and 3 and it's a long time between releases. Releasing more frequency would also be an answer but people don't seem to be interested in doing that as it's a time consuming/complex process.

> With what you are suggesting, master will be as unstable as the develop
> branch is today.
I agree only stable code should be placed into master, we should just try and do it more frequently than after each release.

Currently master while "stable" (it's at  the 4.9.1 release mark) is missing a lot of fixes so it could be argued that it's actually less stable/more buggy than develop. We basically have 2 branches (master and release branch) that have exactly the same info in them - seems redundant to me.

With the CI up and running we should know (most of the time) fairly quickly when there is an issue.

Thanks,
Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[OmPrakash Muppirala <bi...@gmail.com>]

On Jun 25, 2013 5:44 PM, "Justin Mclean" <ju...@classsoftware.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> > The point is that it is generally considered bad form to work directly
in
> > the 'master' branch.
> But not to the point of avoiding it altogether and merging as
infrequently as the flex project does.
>
> > Provided that you a valid reason.
> Here's several - there's probably more:
> 1. People accidentally working in the wrong branch (has happened several
times).

How does defaulting to master fix this issue? Isn't it user error?

> 2. User confusion about where to get the latest code (has happened many
times).

Our documentation on the website very clearly shows how to checkout from
the develop branch.

Why are users getting confused?  Do we have wrong documentation somewhere?

> 3. External tools assume master is default branch by default and give
wrong or confusing picture of the state of the project (eg github).

This is a problem with how Apache Infra is hooking into the external tool.

> 4. Outside perception is not much is happen as master branch is more
visible than develop (can point to several instances of this).

Better messaging?

> 5. Not in line with advice of mentors.

Did mentors advice us to use master branch as default? Please point to the
thread?

> 6. Not in line with other Apache projects.

Examples?

> 7. Extra work for release manager.
> 8. Potential merge issues (see issues with 4.9.1 merge).
> 9. Huge gap between master and develop means users can't apply patches
and are either forced to live with bugs or risk using develop branch
(releasing more often would help this).

On the contrary.  Having a develop branch ensures that bad check-in does
not pollute the main codebase.

With what you are suggesting, master will be as unstable as the develop
branch is today.

This would actually more cause more issues than solve.

Thanks,
Om

>
> Thanks,
> Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>]

Hi,

> The point is that it is generally considered bad form to work directly in
> the 'master' branch.
But not to the point of avoiding it altogether and merging as infrequently as the flex project does.

> Provided that you a valid reason.  
Here's several - there's probably more:
1. People accidentally working in the wrong branch (has happened several times).
2. User confusion about where to get the latest code (has happened many times).
3. External tools assume master is default branch by default and give wrong or confusing picture of the state of the project (eg github).
4. Outside perception is not much is happen as master branch is more visible than develop (can point to several instances of this).
5. Not in line with advice of mentors.
6. Not in line with other Apache projects.
7. Extra work for release manager.
8. Potential merge issues (see issues with 4.9.1 merge).
9. Huge gap between master and develop means users can't apply patches and are either forced to live with bugs or risk using develop branch (releasing more often would help this).

Thanks,
Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[OmPrakash Muppirala <bi...@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 5:01 PM, Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> > [1]
> http://waterstreetgm.org/git-why-you-should-never-commit-directly-to-master/
> > [2]
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5713563/reasons-for-not-working-on-the-master-branch-in-git
>
> IMO both links actually express the opposite view, there a difference to
> making every change in master (and making it unstable) and working in
> branches but integrating frequently/after testing. Currently our master is
> 3 months behind develop.
>
> If you read the second link it states "master contains code which is very
> likely to end up in the next release of git." and that's not how we are
> doing it ie we only merge into master after a release and those are very
> infrequent.
>
> Justin


The point is that it is generally considered bad form to work directly in
the 'master' branch.  If you want to propose to change this, I wont stop
you.  Provided that you a valid reason.  Github showing 'master' branch as
default is not a valid reason IMHO.  We should not make a major change like
this because of a possible quirk in GitHub (which is not our primary source
repo)

Thanks,
Om

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>]

Hi,

> [1] http://waterstreetgm.org/git-why-you-should-never-commit-directly-to-master/
> [2] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5713563/reasons-for-not-working-on-the-master-branch-in-git

IMO both links actually express the opposite view, there a difference to making every change in master (and making it unstable) and working in branches but integrating frequently/after testing. Currently our master is 3 months behind develop.

If you read the second link it states "master contains code which is very likely to end up in the next release of git." and that's not how we are doing it ie we only merge into master after a release and those are very infrequent.

Justin 

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[OmPrakash Muppirala <bi...@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 4:34 PM, Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> > The only way is to create a JIRA ticket against INFRA.  While at it,
> maybe
> > ask them to make sure that this does not keep changing.
> Know the ticket number of the previous issue?
>
>
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/INFRA-6108


>  > To extreme a move for this problem, IMHO.
> Well it keep happening and this is not the only problem it would solve.
>

It should not keep happening.  Infra should be able to figure out why this
keeps happening and fix it.


>
> People (and software) usually assumes that work is carried out in the
> master branch and this make the project seem a lot less active than it
> actually is in a lot of places.
>

Not really.  Active work on master is usually discouraged.

Some best practice notes [1], [2]

[1]
http://waterstreetgm.org/git-why-you-should-never-commit-directly-to-master/
[2]
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5713563/reasons-for-not-working-on-the-master-branch-in-git


>
> Thanks,
> Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>]

Hi,

> The only way is to create a JIRA ticket against INFRA.  While at it, maybe
> ask them to make sure that this does not keep changing.
Know the ticket number of the previous issue?

> To extreme a move for this problem, IMHO.
Well it keep happening and this is not the only problem it would solve.

People (and software) usually assumes that work is carried out in the master branch and this make the project seem a lot less active than it actually is in a lot of places.

Thanks,
Justin

Re: Github mirror pointing at wrong branch

[OmPrakash Muppirala <bi...@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 3:37 PM, Justin Mclean <ju...@classsoftware.com>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> The github mirror has changed to master rather than develop (again).
>
> What do we need to do to get this fixed?
>

The only way is to create a JIRA ticket against INFRA.  While at it, maybe
ask them to make sure that this does not keep changing.


> Would a better solution be just work in master and have a released/stable
> branch in GIt?
>

To extreme a move for this problem, IMHO.

Thanks,
Om