URID.org

Re: CVS vs. shared drive. I’d rather not have CVS and the hassles that come with it if I’m not on a project that requires it. I’d rather access the shared drive.

I’ll try to stop by when I get a chance, Jessica, and we can take a look saving docs on Twiki.

To answer Laura’s questions…

1) If UR+ID wants to access something in CVS, we’ll need to have CVS installed and an ID/password.

2) I’m not clear how an ID/password for CVS would influence the shared drive—please elaborate.

3) Chris—can you confirm? I did try to change an active doc in TWiKi, and while it let me make the change, as near as I can tell it did not save it, even though I told it to. I’m not clear what the full functionality of TWiKi is here.

And pose a question of my own…

Should UR+ID be in the business of telling project teams where to store their documentation? It would be a change for DO/DU to use TWiKi for wireframes and not CVS. Apparently now the developers code to documentation that exists in CVS—not clear how they’ll use TWiKi, except as a place to more easily access CVS documents. Having said all that, I do think that UR+ID should have responsibility for posting the “final” wireframe, no matter how that repository is defined.

I also think TWiki is fine; from what I’ve heard I agree it sounds better than CVS for documentation. But I’m not sure if a project should choose TWiki because UR+ID would like them to (for the storage bennies it provides us). Three other things to consider (which perhaps you already have): 1) If UR+ID wants to access something that is stored in CVS do we need an ID and password? 2) If yes, maybe we need to reconsider the shared drive. 3) If memory serves me correctly (and it may not), TWiki may not give quite control you want. If the doc is in, anyone can check it out and change it.

CVS makes perfect sense for managing code, but for documents, there’s really no reason not to use Twiki (especially since it does offer basic version control). CVS is definitely the more robust version control system, but it’s really designed as a developer tool for ensuring a complete trail of all coding changes during a project.

I also like the idea of using TWiKi as the repository of record b/c I like being able to control the upload etc. We should still be able to access them if they’re in CVS, either directly through CVS (I have CVS installed but it’s never worked correctly) or through TWiKi, assuming the link works. I’d like to control when they get checked in…makes me feel better.

One concern I’ve heard Rich voice over using TWiKi for DO/DU is that it doesn’t provide version control…but it does. Another is that he likes having all the documentation for a product in once place. I wonder if other teams are moving towards using TWiKi for all non-code documentation. Chris/Laura—any word here? I have heard that bandied about, too.

I think it should be TWiki. I like the idea of having control over the documents and being able to access them once the release is finished (can we do that if they’re in CVS?)