\begin{hcarentry}[updated]{Darcs}
\label{darcs}
\report{Eric Kow}
\participants{Jason Dagit, Simon Michael}
\status{active development}
\makeheader

Darcs is a distributed revision control system written in Haskell. In
Darcs, every copy of your source code is a full repository, which allows for
full operation in a disconnected environment, and also allows anyone with
read access to a Darcs repository to easily create their own branch and
modify it with the full power of Darcs' revision control. Darcs is based on
an underlying theory of patches, which allows for safe reordering and
merging of patches even in complex scenarios. For all its power, Darcs
remains a very easy to use tool for every day use because it follows the
principle of keeping simple things simple.

We have recently released darcs 2.1, providing better HTTP support and
fixes to our use of the pending patch.  The new version also creates
darcs 2 format repositories by the default, as darcs 2 is starting to be
more widely used and shipped by major package distributors.  This change
will be bring the new improved conflicts handling and merging semantics
to a wider audience.

In the bigger picture, the past six months have been particularly
envigorating for the darcs team.  GHC is moving to git from darcs and we
are applying their feedback to make darcs better.  The decision to
switch has been painful, but it has spurred us into more vigourous
action in building up the darcs team.  As a result of this switch, we
have we have undertaken several long term projects to improve our
development practices and grow the darcs community:
\begin{enumerate}
\item Increased automation.  We now use automated buildbots for major
      supported platforms.  The buildbots run our ever-growing suite of
      test cases, including a new performance regression suite.
\item Code documentation.   We have begun an effort to provide better
      developer documentation for the darcs.  We are integrating many
      fine Haskell tools, such as Haddock and Hoogle at
      \url{http://darcs.net/api-doc}.
\item Darcs Weekly News.  Inspired from Haskell Weekly News, we are
      using this bulletin to help on-lookers to catch up with recent
      discussions, issues resolved, and patches applied.
\item Regular hacking sprints.  The first darcs hacking sprint was
      held on 25-26 October and was a great success!  We hope to host
      similar sprints three or four times a year as a means for
      experienced developers to concentrate on darcs, and also for
      newcomers to get to grips with the code.
\end{enumerate}
These practices should help us to continue making steady progress.  We
want darcs to be the pride and joy of the Haskell community, but for
this to happen, Haskell hackers, we need your help!

Darcs is free software licensed under the GNU GPL.

\FurtherReading
\url{http://darcs.net}
\end{hcarentry}