On Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 5:06 AM, Ian Hinder <ian.hinder@aei.mpg.de> wrote:

On 20 Dec 2011, at 03:37, Frank Loeffler wrote:

On Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 10:55:52PM +0000, Ian Hinder wrote:
Should "-a" be the default?

I think the idea is that GetComponents should ask the first time it
encounters a new service for a user name or anonymous checkout. For some
reason it doesn't do this here. The '-a' switch prevents this
interactivity, which should make it easier for new users.

We might not need to make -a the default, but should rather find out why
it apparently didn't give the choice of authentication.

Wouldn't it be better for new users if they weren't exposed to this? It's only relevant for a small number of users. Having to answer an irrelevant question for a number of repositories when you first check out is a bit unfriendly.

There is no question if people use "-a" (and apparently if a bug in GetComponents is corrected).

How easy is it to switch between an authenticated and an anonymous checkout once the checkout has been completed?

It basically requires "relocating" the repository.

Why do we need to have this distinction in the first place? Can this be decided when you try to commit instead?

This would be a nice idea. Instead of anonymous and authenticated access we specify the commands for read and write access, and whatever is required under the hood becomes part of GetComponents.

-erik