[Oberon] [EXT] Re: all in one git tree

[Skulski, Wojciech]

D EMARD:

Since I am one of the living fossils on this list, I seem to recall similar discussions. Let me try to comment.

> It is expected that sooner or later one branch will become
> preferrable and will contain all features of neighboring branches.

If something is not happening by itself, there must be a reason for it not happening. I cannot say for sure, but one such reason might be a difference of cultures between the Linux and the Oberon communities. 

There is no question that Linux kernel is a tightly managed project. Git is a tool to run it as such. It was created to serve this role. Git history article on Wikipedia makes it clear.

Linux community has a formal leadership. It is a sort of a kingdom led by one person. I do not want to say "church", but it sometimes feels like there is a pope in that community. Git is a projection of the pope's power to accept, to reject, and to excommunicate.

Oberon community might also have a pope, but he is not managing anything. There is no formal leadership which would either officially accept or reject code. We are guessing that some propositions would make our pope unhappy, but it is just a guess. In any case, there is no leadership and therefore there is no structure that would serve the leader.

Having only a honorary pope, Oberon community has several key persons who are all equal. The key persons collaborate behind the scenes. If they needed a formal central structure, they would have created one long time ago. 

Asking for the creation of such a tool is like putting a carriage before the horse. Whom this tool could possibly serve if there is no leader? It would be orphaned from day one.

> There should be few knowledgeable people that understand the
> history and maintain official tree.

Key persons are super knowledgeable. But they do not seem to feel the need for "official". 

So these are my observations and conclusion based on some 20+ years of observing the community.

Thank you,
Wojtek