Neil Harris (usenet(a)tonal.clara.co.uk) [050511 01:33]:
This is exactly the direction Linus Torvalds is moving
in with git.
("Git" is a very fast and lightweight content-addressable version
management tool written by Linus Torvalds as an alternative to
conventional version control tools. not an insult).
In fact, the git approach of using SHA-1 hashes as "true" content IDs
has much to recommend it, as then there is no need even to use locking
to issue new version IDs, since they can be generated just by hashing
the source. This makes the git "filesystem" scalable over a huge number
of concurrent developers without any (realistic) chance of a clash; and
if two files do clash, you just add spaces to the end of the new file
until the clash goes away. Perhaps we should be looking at going in the
direction of git at the same time as we move the Wikitext out of the DB?
Another interesting thing about git: as I understand it (from reading the
git-traffic digest, not using it or anything), git preserves authorship by
the line, even when content is moved between files. Which would give us an
answer to "who put this sentence in?" Which would be very helpful for
collaborative editing, requesting references, etc.
- d.