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  12 <title>Please Stop Bugging Linus Torvalds About Subversion</title>
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  18 <h2 style="text-align: center">Please Stop Bugging Linus Torvalds About Subversion</h2>
  19
  20 <p>Since Linus Torvalds' <a
  21 href="http://lwn.net/Articles/130681/">decision</a> to stop using
  22 BitKeeper for the Linux kernel&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;for licensing
  23 reasons, not technical reasons&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;a number of people
  24 have suggested <a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/">Subversion</a>
  25 as a possible replacement version control system.  Linus himself has
  26 said he doesn't want to switch to Subversion, most recently in a
  27 footnote at the end of <a href="http://lwn.net/Articles/130681/"
  28 >http://lwn.net/Articles/130681/</a>.</p>
  29
  30 <p>We, the Subversion development team, would like to explain why we
  31 agree that Subversion would not be the right choice for the Linux
  32 kernel.</p>
  33
  34 <p>Subversion was primarily designed as a replacement for CVS.  It is
  35 a centralized version control system.  It does not support distributed
  36 repositories, nor foreign branching, nor tracking of dependencies
  37 between changesets.  Given the way Linus and the kernel team work,
  38 using patch swapping and decentralized development, Subversion would
  39 simply not be much help.  While Subversion has been well-received by
  40 <a href="http://subversion.tigris.org/testimonials.html">many open
  41 source projects</a>, that doesn't mean it's right for <i>every</i>
  42 project.</p>
  43
  44 <p>Someday, Subversion may have the features Linus needs, but they're
  45 just vaporware until then, and they haven't been our immediate
  46 priorities.  For example, the feature we added most recently (in
  47 response to user demand) was file locking&nbsp;&mdash;&nbsp;not
  48 exactly something the Linux kernel team was clamoring for.  Linus
  49 needs a version control system that supports his working model today,
  50 something like <a href="http://www.venge.net/monotone/">Monotone</a>,
  51 which he mentioned in his post, or <a
  52 href="http://www.gnuarch.org/">GNU&nbsp;Arch</a>, or <a
  53 href="http://svk.elixus.org/">SVK</a> (which implements distributed
  54 functionality on top of Subversion), all of which support at least
  55 some of the features that attracted Linus to BitKeeper in the first
  56 place.</p>
  57
  58 <p>One very positive result of the move away from BitKeeper will be
  59 that people can set up Subversion mirrors of kernel activity without
  60 worrying about conflicts with BitMover, Inc (see <a
  61 href="http://subversion.tigris.org/bitmover-svn.html#licensing"
  62 >http://subversion.tigris.org/bitmover-svn.html#licensing</a> for the
  63 history of that situation).  BitMover Inc has been extremely sensitive
  64 about any attempts to reverse-engineer or duplicate BitKeeper
  65 functionality, and has done its best to prevent open source developers
  66 from implementing BitKeeper-like features in other version control
  67 systems.  We have always found this a disappointing assault on the
  68 freedom of open source programmers, and strongly disagree with Larry
  69 McVoy's claim, quoted at <a href="http://kerneltrap.org/node/4966"
  70 >http://kerneltrap.org/node/4966</a>, that BitMover Inc represents
  71 <i>"as open-source friendly a commercial organization as you are
  72 *ever* going to see"</i>.  We are happy that this situation will be
  73 minimized by the Linux kernel's move away from BitKeeper.</p>
  74
  75 <p>We wish Linus and the kernel team luck in finding a truly free
  76 version control system that supports their model well.  That system
  77 probably won't be Subversion, but at least there won't be any more
  78 obstacles for people who want to set up Subversion mirrors or other
  79 Subversion-based tools for their personal Linux development.</p>
  80
  81 <p><b>-The Subversion Development Team</b></p>
  82
  83 <p>$Date$</p>
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