Re: backup files for files under VC

[David Kastrup]

Torsten Bronger <address@hidden> writes:

> Hallöchen!
>
> David Kastrup writes:
>
>> Torsten Bronger <address@hidden> writes:
>>
>>> [...]
>>>
>>> and request to change it because the VCS only stores the last
>>> commit.
>>
>> What version control system would that be?
>
> If I change the file, save it, and remove it afterwards, the changes
> are lost.

Why would you do that without checking this into a branch when you have
serious work done on it?

> Between saving and removing must be the commit, otherwise, the VCS
> can't restore the file.

Random deletion is more a candidate for backing up your whole directory
rather than having single backup files lying around.

> In contrast to that, a backup file stores the last save instead of the
> last commit.  And because this may help in some cases, I suggest to
> change the default value of vc-make-backup-files.

I vote against it.  Version-controlled directories become messy pretty
fast with backup files lying around.  For one thing, they tend not to
correspond with the current branch/version.

In particular distributed version control systems (you still have not
mentioned which system you are talking about, by the way) provide ample
opportunity for saving partial work, in a manner where it is clear just
what version the partial work is based on.

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum