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CodePlex WTF?
I want to take a look at a project on CodePlex, so I registered, and then took a look at how I can get the code from the repository. I already have the Team Foundation client installed, so I figured it should be no issue.
I got to the documentation and looked at this:
I then went to the project that I am interested at, and went to the source control tab:
Can you see my problem? It looks like that I need to be a member in a project to get a (read only) access to the source. Now, I am a seasoned Open Source developer, and I have to say that this is the first time that I have run into such a case.
I am not sure who is at fault here, CodePlex of the Team Foundation source control, although I tend to think that the SCM for Team Foundation does support this (I do have read-only access to several Team Foundation repositories at various clients). At any rate, this means that my interest in projects in CodePlex has dropped sharply.
Allow me to detail the way I work with projects:
- Get the source - it must be connected to a source control system. I get very nervous when I don't have a time machine at my disposal. A static snapshot of the code (which a lot of projects on CodePlex seems to offer) is just not good enough. It doesn't handle updates at all, and you can't get diff easily.
- Browse / play with the source
- Make local modifications
- Submit patches if I don't have commit rights.
It looks like CodePlex failed on the first point, and I have serious doubts about the last one.
This makes CodePlex very disappointing as a OSS repository.
Comments
The fact that the release contains the source isn't really helpful to me.
I want to be able to get a live snapshot of the code, and I want to be able to update it as time goes by, get history, diffs, patches, etc.
None of this can be done with a zip file, at least not easily.
@Omer,
No, that is distinctly not what I want.
I want to be able to get the source, and look at its history, make a modification and revert it. Make a modification and send you a patch.
You know, standard SCM stuff.
This article describes as well my own experience with CodePlex! When I found out that I could not get read only access to the source code my reaction was exactly the very same. WTF!
p.s.: if "a sessioned Open Source developer" was a witticism, I didn' get that ;)
that was my liberal approach to spelling.
fixed, thanks
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