[LAU] Updating without cvs or svn

[Gabriel M. Beddingfield]

alex stone wrote:
> My problem is i have no net access for the laptop, so i'm reinstalling
> everything with a constant transfer process with an install disk, and a usb
> stick. (And i should say here i've installed Debian Lenny ppc, which worked

A USB Ethernet adapter is, what... US$30?  In the past, I've been known to spend 
HOURS trying to invent a Rube Goldberg scheme 
(serial-to-morse-code-to-serial-to-ethernet chain) to avoid spending $30.  I 
usually regret it (and my family *always* regrets it).

Just a suggestion... now on to what you asked....

> Is it possible to simply download (Save as..., for instance) from an up to
> date cvs or svn build, to an isolated download file, then transfer the files
> to my usb stick, without using CVS or SVN to do so?

YMMV on installing CVS, SVN, or Git on a USB stick... but it seems plausible to 
do.  I often have PuTTy installed on a USB stick so that I can SSH from any 
Windows computer without having to install software.

1. Subversion
=============

SVN has an export feature that you could use to download the latest copy.

C:\> E:\bin\svn export http://path-to-repo/project/trunk E:\data\project

To grab a specific revision, I think the syntax is:

C:\> E:\bin\svn export -r 666 http://path-to-repo/project/trunk E:\data\project

Alternatively, you could have a working copy on the stick:

C:\> E:
E:\> cd data\project
E:\> E:\bin\svn up

I've never tried to install Subversion on a USB drive.  Last time I downloaded 
the Windows version of Subversion, Collab.net appears to be doing stuff like 
asking for registration information, and offering a limited set of packages and 
install methods.

2. Git
======

Git has a great deal of support for offline usage.  There's also a git-svn 
connect that provides a bidirectional connection to a Subversion repository. 
Also, if the server supports it, you can export any revision to a tarball using 
'git archive --remote'.  There's also a command called 'git bundle' that is 
designed for exactly this sort of incremental and off-line updates.

However, getting Git installed on Windows is a chore...  especially if you're 
trying to install it to a USB stick.

Using Git with Mingw on Windows, watch out for repositories that (when 
compressed) approach 2GB.  (Not typical for a coding project, though.)

3. CVS
======

Messs hatessses CcccceeeVeeeeSssssss.

4. PuTTy
========

If you have shell access to some other computer (a university account, a 
friend's server, whatever)... you could much more easily set this stuff up. 
When you want to update things and download them, you can do it via SSH using 
PuTTY and PSFTP -- which I have installed on a USB drive very successfully.

HTH,
Gabriel