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Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
At 4:27 PM on May 15, 2007, Alex Blewitt
wrote:
This isn't the same as the formally supported downloads for Linux and Windows platforms. It's also not the only time that volunteers have stepped up to provide Mac OS X binaries; the fink project only contains 1.2 as a binary version, whilst the previous Mac OS X supporters only ever got around to providing 1.3 (courtesy of metissian) .
The problem with volunteers is ... well, they're volunteers. They can come and go as they please. So whilst it's great to finally have an up-to-date tool I can download now, at some point in the past, both the Fink and Metissian downloads were up-to-date as well.
I've argued before that cross-platform support is essential if you want a system to take off. This may be the first step towards getting a formal supported version of subversion for Mac OS X, or it may be the first step towards another obsolete version. Only time will tell.
Alex
8 replies so far (
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Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
Well the main difference is primarily one of paid support. Our decision makers have not had any/many requests for this for OS X. That is why we support Solaris though, we had a lot of requests for the paid support contracts.You are right that it is also a commitment, and that is still lacking here. That being said:
1. I am hoping the download numbers will be large enough to get attention and possibly make us want to consider adding an official version.
2. We want to build up a community site where we can share our scripts and techniques to make it easy for others to do this. Hopefully this will allow the project to transfer from one volunteer to the next when needed and will also jumpstart the process of supporting other platforms that do not have binaries.
Mark
Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
Hello Alex,well, i have svn 1.4.2 on my mac os x machine and i certainly didn't compile it myself. My fink lists 1.4.3 as the most recent version.
Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
I mean i didn't try to compile it manually. Fink is doing that for me.Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
Yeah, but in order for that to work, you had to go and install Fink and then download GCC, followed by the SVN sources (via fink) and wait for it to finish. If you're a (say) web developer wanting to set up SVN for your website, you probably haven't even heard of Fink, let alone want to spend a 2 hour process to get something that should be a point-n-click install.Fink's good for what it does, but the compile-everything-yourself Linux mentality isn't what most Mac users expect. For example, there's a SCPlugin extension to allow Finder to work with SVN attributes; except that it only works if you've already got SVN installed.
Mac users expect solutions, not problems
Alex.
Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
This may be the first step towards getting a formal supported version of subversion for Mac OS X, or it may be the first step towards another obsolete versionThe current version (1.4.3) of Subversion can also be installed via MacPorts .
Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
Fink's good for what it does, but the compile-everything-yourself Linux mentality isn't what most Mac users expect. For example, there's a SCPlugin extension to allow Finder to work with SVN attributes; except that it only works if you've already got SVN installed.I would argue that if you're using Subversion, which as we all know is a command line driven developer tool, you probably should be able to compile it. I mean, what are doing fetching source code using Subversion if you can't do anything with it?
If you're a web developer looking to use Subversion you would probably be better served using a Subversion GUI app like SvnX or SmartSVN .
Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
Why is it that all subversion developers assume that people are developing in C? It's like this blinkered mind-set that assumes 'developer' == 'someone who runs gcc on a regular basis'.Uses of SVN that don't require knowledge/use/install of gcc:
* Developing in Java
* Developing in Python
* Developing in Perl
* Developing in JavaScript
* Developing in Ruby
* Developing in Groovy
* Developing in Erlang
* Developing in Haskell
* Storing SQL or DDL
None of the above require either 'make' or 'gcc' to be installed. In addition, there are other legitimate uses for a version-control system that are not developer related at all:
* Maintaining configuration files
* Maintaining external data e.g. website
* Storing letters for clients
* Backing up design/testing documentation information
* Backing up a wiki
Again, none of the above ever get near needing gcc installed.
So tell me, why is it that you think all subversion users are C/C++ coders?
Alex.
Re: Subversion binaries for Mac OS X available
The latest release of SCPlugin, version 0.7, is now available for download, and eliminates the need for a separate command-line installation or operations.