Future of Mercurial?

Tue Mar 12 12:29:40 UTC 2019

Yes, no released version supports it yet, I was trying to say the port is
almost complete. If you’re so interested in getting mercurial working under
python3 you should help out instead of trolling by saying the port will
never happen and the devs have no interest in it. Just patently untrue.

On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 12:52 AM Somchai Smythe <
buraphalinuxserver at gmail.com> wrote:

> gmail dropped the cc: [sigh]
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Somchai Smythe <buraphalinuxserver at gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2019 12:47:15 +0700
> Subject: Re: Future of Mercurial?
> To: Nathan Goldbaum <nathan12343 at gmail.com>
>
> Well, I don't know, maybe the web site moved.  I downloaded from
> mercurial-scm.org today, and can say with confidence that no released
> mercurial works for python3.  I downloaded the last release version,
> 4.9, (the march 2019 version is missing) after I got you email and
> tested it:
>
> $gpg2 --verify mercurial-4.9.tar.gz.asc mercurial-4.9.tar.gz
> gpg: Signature made Sat 02 Feb 2019 01:53:32 AM +07
> gpg:                using RSA key 2BCCE14F5C6725AA2EA8AEB7B9C9DC824AA5BDD5
> gpg: Good signature from "Augie Fackler <raf at durin42.com>" [expired]
> gpg: Note: This key has expired!
> Primary key fingerprint: 2BCC E14F 5C67 25AA 2EA8  AEB7 B9C9 DC82 4AA5 BDD5
> $tar xzf mercurial-4.9.tar.gz
> $cd mercurial-4.9
> $python3 setup.py build --verbose
>
> Mercurial only supports Python 2.7.
> Python sys.version_info(major=3, minor=6, micro=7,
> releaselevel='final', serial=0) detected.
> Please re-run with Python 2.7.
>
> $
>
>
> On 3/12/19, Nathan Goldbaum <nathan12343 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Mercurial’s default branch more or less
> > completely works under python3. I think there are only a few failing
> tests
> > at this point.
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 10:40 PM Somchai Smythe <
> > buraphalinuxserver at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Well, I'll tell you my perspective, but I admit my use case is
> >> probably not common and my opinions are probably controversial.  Maybe
> >> it'll spark a response that states the plan going forward, and we'd
> >> all like know if there is such a plan, and if it exists what it is and
> >> what the timeframe is.
> >>
> >> Mercurial doesn't really work with python3, and python2 is pretty much
> >> end-of-life.  Switching to git is the only viable option unless the
> >> mercurial people fix this, and they seem to be unable or unwilling to
> >> embrace python3.  This is why I switched all my projects to git, even
> >> though I much prefer mercurial.  I need something that works
> >> cross-platform and will still be working in the years to come, and
> >> anything which requires python2 is doomed.  I even had to throw out
> >> all my teaching materials and rewrite them for git (that was a
> >> non-trivial exerciese).  Trying to teach git to students new to Linux,
> >> well, it's turned out to be about 10 times harder than teaching
> >> mercurial to them.  But I don't want to teach dead-end technology
> >> since it won't be useful to them after graduation.
> >>
> >> I'm depressed by the fact that even after all this time the mercurial
> >> maintainers didn't either learn python3 or rewrite it in straight C,
> >> but they've hinted they'll go with rust.  My non-teaching systems
> >> where I once used mercurial are all offline systems and I use
> >> thumbdrives to move data on and off of them. The rust toolchain
> >> requires a live internet connection to even build, so I cannot work
> >> with that toolchain.  How can people even trust something that makes
> >> it practically impossible to see the source they are actually building
> >> with without using tcpdump/wireshark to capture the streams?  The
> >> proponents claim rust is more secure, but who can actually be sure
> >> since it downloads code you cannot reivew during the build?  It could
> >> put _anything_ in there and you'd never know it until too late.  And
> >> yeah, I had to dump firefox for the same reason.  If they had chosen
> >> 'go', C or C++, they don't have these rust issues and I'd be willing
> >> to try it.
> >>
> >> Meanwhile, git builds fine without an internet connection, it handles
> >> the linux kernel fine which certainly builds my confidence it can
> >> handle anything I'll ever need to do with it, even microsoft has
> >> switched to git, and it sure seems to me it'll be the last vcs
> >> standing when the dust settles.  The fact that git is also the most
> >> difficult and tedious to use is unfortunate, but a price most seem
> >> willing to pay to get one ubiquitous vcs that builds and runs
> >> anywhere, builds easily, and is designed for high performance.
> >>
> >> If, and this is rather unlikely, the mercurial team ditched rust and
> >> embraced python3, which also runs everywhere I care about, I might
> >> consider switching back, but switching vcs keeping history, tags, etc.
> >> is so much trouble I suspect most large projects wouldn't even
> >> consider it once they've completed their switch to git.
> >>
> >> If mercurial wants to remain alive, the maintainers need to deliver a
> >> drop-in replacement, even if it is a rust-based thing that wouldn't
> >> work for me, that doesn't use the doomed python2, and it'll need to be
> >> backwards compatible with the older hg repos.  It could still happen,
> >> but is it wise to rely on that?  Only you can evaluate the risk and
> >> make that decision.
> >>
> >> Since the linux distribution I use doesn't even have python2 any more,
> >> the decision has already been made for me.
> >>
> >>
> >> On 3/10/19, Harley Leyton <voldermort at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> > -- The following is written in good faith for frank, honest discussion
> >> > --
> >> >
> >> > I began using hg many years ago, back when git had a horrible UI and
> >> didn't
> >> > work on Windows. Since then, git has become fully supported on Windows
> >> and
> >> > the UI has much improved. hg still has the edge for user-friendliness
> >> > and
> >> > cross-platform support, but git has almost 100% of the mindshare and
> >> market.
> >> >
> >> > I've been stubbornly sticking with hg for hobby projects, but I almost
> >> never
> >> > encounter anything other than git in the open source and commercial
> >> worlds.
> >> > (I'm aware that hg is used in both, but this is a rare exception.) hg
> >> seems
> >> > to be going very much in the direction of bzr, although we're clearly
> >> > not
> >> > there yet.
> >> >
> >> > I'm interested in more positive - but realistic - perspectives.
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Mercurial mailing list
> >> > Mercurial at mercurial-scm.org
> >> > https://www.mercurial-scm.org/mailman/listinfo/mercurial
> >> >
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Mercurial mailing list
> >> Mercurial at mercurial-scm.org
> >> https://www.mercurial-scm.org/mailman/listinfo/mercurial
> >>
> >
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