Bug 222692 - Source install shows using svn, not svnlite
Summary: Source install shows using svn, not svnlite
Status: Closed Overcome By Events
Alias: None
Product: Documentation
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Books & Articles (show other bugs)
Version: Latest
Hardware: Any Any
: --- Affects Only Me
Assignee: freebsd-doc (Nobody)
URL:
Keywords: needs-qa
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2017-09-29 16:45 UTC by Andy
Modified: 2021-04-11 11:53 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

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Description Andy 2017-09-29 16:45:40 UTC
The handbook on updating/instaling from source shows all commands using 'svn', not 'svnlite'.  This is confusing to new users who have no svn.  In fact, none of the pages in chapter 23 show svnlite.  I think it makes most sense to replace occurrences of the svn command with svnlite, since it's universally available.
The page in question is:
https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/makeworld.html
However, the following page:
https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/current-stable.html
also mentions that: ``Typically, svn is used to check out the -CURRENT code...''
It should probably also be updated to svnlite.  While it does link to the subversion appendix, there is no need for full svn for checkout.

Thanks!
Comment 1 Warren Block freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2017-09-29 23:36:03 UTC
One problem is that the svnlite man pages have never been fixed.  They all refer to svn: https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=191163

svnlite was an import of an external utility into base.  I'm hesitant to add more dependencies on it in the docs, since I suspect it still might go away.  The right way probably to add a note, like we already have in other places.  Each of those has to explain the situation, which only ends up being more confusing.  Probably that should all be written in one place so it does not have to be repeated each time.  This does not help the new user, because it's a lot of information they don't need.  "Use svnlite, which is the same as svn, unless it doesn't exist, in which case install the package.  Mentally replace all these example commands with one or the other, whichever one exists."
Comment 2 Andy 2017-10-02 18:49:27 UTC
Barring some active discussion with timeline to remove svnlite (which I'm unaware of), what you're suggesting is to leave the handbook in an inconsistent state.  Recalling how long the cvs->svn move took, maybe holding our breath waiting for svnlite to go away isn't recommended.  The handbook is really the one place new users are urged to read prior to any discussion on mailing lists, newsgroups, irc, etc.  Granted there is an issue with base system documentation that 194910 attempts to address.  That bug was filed nearly 3 years ago. system.

Referencing 191163: a patch to update svnlite documentation makes a lot of sense!  Is there anything stopping that, or is it just on the giant 'nobody's submitted a patch for this yet' list?
Comment 3 Mateusz Piotrowski freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2018-08-16 17:21:13 UTC
I'll look into it.
Comment 4 Mateusz Piotrowski freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2019-09-20 12:18:25 UTC
Give it back to doc@FreeBSD.org.

We should revisit this one after we are finished with the documentation overhaul.
Comment 5 Sergio Carlavilla Delgado freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2021-04-11 11:53:36 UTC
Since we moved from SVN to Git we can close this.