Subject: Re: VCS comparison table

From: Charles Duffy <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:31:32 -0500

Sean wrote:
> You'll need a better example than that.  Git has supported a version
> of Cygwin-compatible symlink support on Windows for quite some time.
> And no plugins were needed.

The win32-compatible symlink support is not, in and of itself, the point.

The point is that core, pervasive functionality can be modified at 
runtime, with no recompilation or installation of tools not included in 
the bzr package itself, simply by dropping a directory into place. This 
means that folks who don't have the skillset to merge three branches 
together (say, upstream plus two different trees adding extra 
functionality) and run a build can still install a few plugins to 
enhance their copy of bzr (which was installed by their IT staff, or a 
shiny click-through idiot-friendly Windows installer, etc).

And yes, there are people like that who are part of bzr's target 
audience. Think (of the lower end of the set of) DBAs, QA folk and such.

Granted, I'm speaking with my IT hat on here rather than my developer 
hat -- but plugins are a pretty clear usability win.