Re: [Monotone-devel] where to put a (default) database? [Was: clone cleanup failure on Windows]

[Ben Walton]

I'd typically fall into the 'down with big brother' group with things
like this wanting to report data back home, however in the case
monotone, as everything is out in the open (don't trust the binary,
here's the source) I'm less concerned.  I also agree that having this
type of info is invaluable, at least during the rapid development
phase of the project...after 1.0 hits, this need would (hopefully)
decline as much planning went into the early stages (eg: now).

In that regard, I'd suggest two things.
1. A wrapper around mtn supplied in contrib that would do logging with
timestamps of commands run and any other environmental data deemed
important.  This data collection would be completely optional.  A
default install should always use the binary, forcing the user to
override this behaviour explicitly.  Data should be logged locally
only.
2. A second script that would submit the logged data should also be
supplied with contrib.  Again, it would be up to the user to cron data
submission or handle batching it off manually at their leisure.

As someone who attempts to avoid phone home scenarios, I'd feel
comfortable with the above and would likely contribute data.  The
things that make me more comfortable are that the process is voluntary
and I can see exactly what is logged and submitted.  I'd also have
control over frequency, etc.

Thoughts?
-Ben

On 3/5/07, Nathaniel Smith <address@hidden> wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 04, 2007 at 10:27:39PM +1100, William Uther wrote:
> > I could modify clone so that it stored the database in "<working-copy-
> > name>.db".  Or "<working-copy-name>.mtn-db".
>
> The "official extension" (whatever that means) is ".mtn".
>
> (Also, random tangential note, we've tried to train ourselves to
> consistently use the word "workspace" instead of "working copy", at
> least as far as documentation and such goes.)
>
> >   - It shows that mtn has another common use case where you want to
> > run a series of commands in a row.  (Maybe I need to implement the
> > suggestion on the UI wiki page where monotone logs the commands used
> > with a timestamp in ~/.monotone/ somewhere and gathers it in
> > occasionally.  Then we could use that as empirical data for UI design.)
>
> Check the archives -- this idea ran into problems because of concerns
> about users over-reacting to the whiff of big brother phone home data
> collection -- or even just mangled rumors thereof.  I still would love
> to see this data somehow, but the naysayers have a point...
>
> -- Nathaniel
>
> --
> Damn the Solar System.  Bad light; planets too distant; pestered with
> comets; feeble contrivance; could make a better one myself.
>   -- Lord Jeffrey
>
>
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--
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Ben Walton <address@hidden>

Unanswered questions are far less dangerous than unquestioned answers.
- The Roadside Pulpit
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