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Diffstat (limited to 'share/doc/handbook/synching.sgml')
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1 files changed, 52 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/share/doc/handbook/synching.sgml b/share/doc/handbook/synching.sgml index 68a7ad4..e94ad9a 100644 --- a/share/doc/handbook/synching.sgml +++ b/share/doc/handbook/synching.sgml @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -<!-- $Id: current.sgml,v 1.8 1996/01/31 14:26:01 mpp Exp $ --> +<!-- $Id: synching.sgml,v 1.1 1996/02/11 00:16:20 jkh Exp $ --> <!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project --> <chapt><heading>Synchronizing source trees over the Internet<label id="synching"></heading> @@ -7,15 +7,62 @@ <!-- -Last updated: $Date: 1996/01/31 14:26:01 $ +Last updated: $Date: 1996/02/11 00:16:20 $ This document tries to describe the various ways in which a user may use the internet to keep development sources in synch. --> - <p>There are various ways of using an Internet (or email) connection - to stay up-to-date with whatever collection of FreeBSD project sources - it is that interests you. The primary services we offer are: +<p>There are various ways of using an Internet (or email) connection +to stay up-to-date with any given area of the FreeBSD project sources, +or all areas, depending on what interests you. The primary +services we offer are CTM, SUP and CVSup (<bf>new</bf>). + +<p>It's been suggested by some that CTM obsoletes SUP. This isn't quite +true, in fact, because each tool was originally designed to serve a +different constituency and, although they have both undergone significant +improvement since first going into service, they take fundamentally +different approaches in trying to solve the source syncronization problem. +SUP was originally designed to support those who had dedicated (or at +least fast) Internet connections whereas CTM was originally aimed at +supporting those who's access was limited to email only. + +<p><bf>SUP</bf> (Software Update Protocol) is a system that tracks a local +copy of the FreeBSD sources on your local disk and, using configuration files +the user sets up, makes requests over the network to fetch and update any +files which have changed on the FreeBSD master archive. + +<p><bf>CTM</bf>, on the other hand, does not interactively compare +the sources you have with those on the master archive. +Instead, a script which identifies changes in files since its previous run +is executed several times a day on the master archive, any detected changes +being compressed, stamped with a sequence-number and encoded for transmission +over email (printable ASCII only). Once received, these "CTM deltas" can then +be handed to the ctm_rmail(1) utility which will automatically decode, verify +and apply the changes to the user's copy of the sources. This process is +far more efficient than SUP, and places less strain on our server resources +since it's a <em>push</em> rather than a <em>pull</em> model. + +<p>There are other trade-offs, of course. With SUP, you can also +inadvertantly wipe out portions of your archive and SUP will detect +and rebuild the damaged portions for you. CTM won't do this, and if +you wipe some portion of your source tree out (and don't have it backed +up) then you will have to start from scratch (from the most recent CVS +"base delta") and rebuild it all. + +<p>More recently, the waters have been muddied even more by +the introduction of the <bf>CVSup</bf> utility, a highly efficient +replacement for SUP which also offers access to any branch of FreeBSD +development from a single CVS repository (which, in turn, can also be +transferred non-destructively with CVSup - any local developer work on +independant branches is preserved). It overcomes many of SUP's shortcomings +and may be <htmlurl url="ftp://freefall.freebsd.org/pub/CVSup/" +name="downloaded"> from our development server, where additonal documentation +is also provided. Both the CVSup client and server are compatible with +the sup and supfilesrv distribution file formats. + +For more information on SUP and CTM, please see one of the following +sections: ⊃ &ctm; |