Subversion Sucks

Until now I have been using Subversion for my source code management. To avoid using the command line tools I also used VisualSVN and TortoiseSVN which provide an easier user interface for usage with Visual Studio and the Windows Explorer respectively.

After using this setup for some time I have decided that it sucks. I often wait a couple of weeks before checking in my latest batch of changes (yes, I know I should probably do this every day). You can bet that checking in will give some weird problem with an error message that is almost useful but not quite. Then you spend what feels like forever trying to work out the reason. And every time it turns out to be something different.

This is before mentioning the vast annoyance that is the overlay icons. The idea of the TortoiseSVN shell extension is that you get nice add/remove/unchanged style icon overlays when looking at your files. So you can easily see what has changed. Do they work? Not really. Most of the time they are correct but sometimes they are just plain wrong. I don’t like looking at the icons and knowing they might be lying to me.

So I’ve dumped Subversion. I know that some of you are going to point out you have used it with success for several years and the problem is the operator. You’re quite right but I am still dumping it and trying out something different.

Mercurial for Windows

The latest fad in source code control is the use of distributed systems such as Git, Mercurial and Bazaar. So I’ve jumped on the bandwagon and opted to give Mercurial a chance. The download at TortoiseHG comes with Mercurial and the TortoiseHG shell extensions in a single installer. I only started using it a few days ago but so far it has been very simple and easy to use. Even the icon overlays have been correct so far.

To get started yourself read this online introduction and download from here.

I have finally joined up with Facebook and am probably the last developer in the world to do so. I never really thought there was much point as I have no interest in sharing pictures of skate boarding ferrets (although having said that it does sound quite impressive if you have indeed managed to train your ferret to skate board).

I have added by profile link on the sidebar of the blog so anyone that is interested in software development and business development should feel to ‘friend’ up.

In most regards I would say that Australia is a first world country. But when it comes to power cuts you might as well be in the middle of Somalia. I must get a blip in power supply every couple of weeks. Almost all power boards over here come with a built-in surge protector which tells you how reliable the power supply is considered. The last cut was the most annoying as it lasted for several hours. Even worse it was evening and so the house was completely dark. I had to read a book by candlelight!

After my throwback to the Victorian era I rebooted to discover my machine was now considered to be pirated. It would let you login but then it shows a blank desktop with a message saying that your copy of windows is not genuine. I can assure you that Krypton is developed on a fully legal copy of Windows. It only took 20 minutes to get the machine working again by moving to a previous restore point and no data was lost. So I recommend all developers in Australia have a nightly backup of all your important data and ensure you image the machine on a regular basis. Luckily I do both.

I think it is fair to say the initial response to the new website design was less than enthusiastic. To some extent this is because many people do not like change and the new site is definitely a significant change over the old site. Also I would agree with many of the comments about the font family and size not being very good.

So I have just finished updating the site so that most people viewing using Windows will see the “Segoe UI” font. This might seem an odd choice but remember I am selling components to Windows developers and so the vast majority are going to be viewing the site from a Windows machine with that font installed. It falls back to using Tahoma if you do not have that font installed.

Let me know what you think of the latest update. If you could split your comments between the main site, the blog area and the forums area that would be good. Maybe you like some areas but not the others?

I mentioned a few months ago that a new website design was in the process. Well finally the process is complete and the new site us up and live!

The actual content of the site is essentially unchanged at the moment. I intend to create new webcasts and new sets of images in the new few weeks as time allows. Let me know if you spot any teething problems such as broken links.