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Re: // comments and \

From Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org>
Newsgroups comp.lang.c
Subject Re: // comments and \
Date 2015-12-04 09:36 -0800
Organization None to speak of
Message-ID <ln610eqfnq.fsf@kst-u.example.com> (permalink)
References (13 earlier) <n3mltr$6ti$1@dont-email.me> <n3mpk4$knk$1@dont-email.me> <slrnn5udqn.5q5.grahn+nntp@frailea.sa.invalid> <n3p9rq$akb$1@dont-email.me> <56617a2a.5013750@news.xs4all.nl>

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raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) writes:
> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
>> The other thing about svn is that it is that it works nicely and
>> conveniently with a range of files - in particular, binary files are not
>> an issue.  git is great for pure programming source code - but less
>> great for storing entire projects that may contain documentation in
>> binary formats, CAD designs, and all sorts of other files.
>
> Wha... hold on, doesn't git know that we live in an interactive world
> now? Graphics files have been an integral, unmissable part of
> programming for, well, decades! And help files... OK, it's an open
> source project, its main users don't know what the words "help file",
> "manual" or "documentation" mean, but still, for those of us who have to
> face _real_, non-geek, users, it'd be nice if it handled them. If it
> handles only source code and not help files, I guarantee you that the
> two _will_ get out of sync, which already happens far too often.

For most simple operations, git handles binary files the same way it
handles text files.  You can add a binary file to a git repo, modify it,
check in a new version, retreive old versions, etc.

But there are some problems.

If you commit a large text file, change a few lines, then commit the
updated version, git will store the two versions reasonably efficiently;
it doesn't store the entire duplicated content of both versions.

Small changes in binary files tend to be more difficult to isolate.  If,
for example, you commit a large image file, tweak it to darken it a
little bit, then commit the updated version, git will probably have to
store both versions in their entirety, since it won't be able to figure
out a compact way to represent the differences.  If you commit a lot of
different versions of the file, you're effectively going to have a full
copies of each version.  And since git is a distributed system, all
those copies are going to be stored on your local system.

There are some add-ons that try to deal with this kind of thing (Google
"git large file storage" for example).

For text files, git makes it reasonably easy to merge two different
versions into a new one.  If the changes are isolated within the file,
git does a good job of merging them automatically; if they're not, it
marks the conflicts and lets you resolve them manually.  None of that is
likely to be possible for binary files.

(If you can generate the binary files from an editable text file, that
solves problem, but that's not always possible.)

[...]

> Explain to me again how version control, _particularly_ git, is useful
> for a stand-alone programmer who has the discipline to make backups?
> I'm especially interested in a justification for either installing a
> whole new server, or trusting my (possibly proprietary, certainly
> personally written) code to another server in either "The Cloud" or the
> USA.

You don't have to set up a server.  The repo, including all the history,
is stored under a single ".git" directory; you can make backups of that
if you like.  Git *organizes* your backups, and lets you view your
project's history.  For example, you can check out an older version of
your project, take a look at it, and then check out the current version
again, and it's likely to be *much* easier (and more space-efficient)
than retrieving the old version from a backup.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Working, but not speaking, for JetHead Development, Inc.
"We must do something.  This is something.  Therefore, we must do this."
    -- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"

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// comments and \ BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-01 12:52 +0000
  Re: // comments and \ me <self@example.org> - 2015-12-01 13:08 +0000
    Re: // comments and \ Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2015-12-01 08:20 -0500
      Re: // comments and \ me <self@example.org> - 2015-12-01 13:36 +0000
        Re: // comments and \ Eric Sosman <esosman@comcast-dot-net.invalid> - 2015-12-01 09:03 -0500
        Re: // comments and \ Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-01 14:14 +0000
          Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-01 07:40 -0800
            Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 08:55 -0800
            Re: // comments and \ Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-01 17:15 +0000
              Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-01 09:58 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 18:11 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-01 10:18 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 18:20 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 11:07 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-01 11:39 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 12:33 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-02 01:05 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-01 19:30 +0000
            Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-01 20:59 +0100
              Re: // comments and \ James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-01 15:22 -0500
              Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 20:37 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-12-01 14:56 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-01 22:11 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-12-02 03:01 -0800
            Re: // comments and \ glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-02 00:45 +0000
        Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-01 07:52 -0700
          Re: // comments and \ Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-01 15:19 +0000
            Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-01 08:29 -0700
              Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 15:35 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-01 09:21 -0700
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 16:41 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-01 10:15 -0700
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 17:24 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 17:43 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-12-02 03:05 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-02 11:40 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-02 04:29 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-01 19:11 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-01 20:43 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-01 21:04 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-01 21:16 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-12-02 03:12 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-02 11:52 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-02 04:40 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-02 13:55 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-02 13:56 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-02 15:24 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-02 06:54 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-02 16:40 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-02 18:24 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2015-12-02 20:27 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 23:22 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2015-12-03 00:57 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-03 23:44 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2015-12-03 21:17 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-05 00:43 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2015-12-04 20:32 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-05 16:06 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2015-12-05 13:10 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-06 10:18 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2015-12-06 14:26 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 12:45 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-04 11:45 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-04 04:20 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-04 14:20 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-04 10:05 -0500
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-04 17:31 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2015-12-04 17:24 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-04 18:50 -0500
                Re: // comments and \ Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2015-12-04 20:34 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-10 20:40 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-04 09:36 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2015-12-05 09:05 -0500
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-05 17:42 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-06 22:23 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-07 21:59 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-05 15:50 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-05 18:17 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-06 10:01 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2015-12-06 03:05 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-06 04:07 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2015-12-06 04:37 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-06 05:05 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-06 12:19 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-06 13:59 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-06 06:09 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2015-12-06 07:30 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-06 18:55 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-06 12:23 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-06 12:22 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-06 21:06 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2015-12-05 13:14 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-06 10:09 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ mark.bluemel@gmail.com - 2015-12-03 06:15 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-02 08:28 -0700
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 09:01 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-02 21:52 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 16:55 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-03 13:11 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-03 23:21 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-04 11:22 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2015-12-05 01:12 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2015-12-04 20:39 -0600
                Re: // comments and \ raltbos@xs4all.nl (Richard Bos) - 2015-12-04 11:14 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-04 12:25 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-04 14:23 +0100
                Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 09:00 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-01 19:46 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 20:36 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-01 20:37 -0700
  Re: // comments and \ BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-01 14:26 +0000
    Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 14:32 +0000
    Re: // comments and \ BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-12-01 14:52 +0000
      Re: // comments and \ David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2015-12-01 16:15 +0100
      Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 15:28 +0000
        Re: // comments and \ glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-02 01:26 +0000
      Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 09:12 -0800
        Re: // comments and \ Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-12-01 19:17 +0000
      Re: // comments and \ Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2015-12-01 12:32 -0600
    Re: // comments and \ Nobody <nobody@nowhere.invalid> - 2015-12-02 00:01 +0000
      Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-02 07:08 -0800
        Re: // comments and \ Nobody <nobody@nowhere.invalid> - 2015-12-02 21:05 +0000
          Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-02 14:22 -0800
          Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-02 14:48 -0800
            Re: // comments and \ glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-12-02 23:37 +0000
              Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-02 17:10 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-02 19:24 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-03 04:10 +0000
                Re: // comments and \ Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-12-02 21:49 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-03 07:28 -0700
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-03 09:12 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-03 06:53 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-03 15:41 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-03 15:56 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-03 16:44 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-12-03 17:29 -0800
                Re: // comments and \ supercat@casperkitty.com - 2015-12-03 19:10 -0800
        Re: // comments and \ Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2015-12-02 21:59 -0800
  Re: // comments and \ Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-12-01 07:52 -0700
  Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 09:21 -0800
    Re: // comments and \ Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-12-01 17:26 +0000
      Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 10:50 -0800
    Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-01 10:49 -0800
      Re: // comments and \ Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2015-12-01 11:34 -0800
    Re: // comments and \ David Thompson <dave.thompson2@verizon.net> - 2015-12-22 06:44 -0500
      Re: // comments and \ "Charles Richmond" <numerist@aquaporin4.com> - 2015-12-23 14:35 -0600
        Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-23 13:00 -0800
          Re: // comments and \ James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-23 16:58 -0500
            Re: // comments and \ Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-12-23 14:21 -0800
        Re: // comments and \ James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-12-23 16:55 -0500
  Re: // comments and \ Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2015-12-01 12:24 -0800

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