So, I understand that I can add a repository publicly to the github library list, and I can add a library to the manager by installing as a zip file. But why not the ability to simply add a 3rd party git url to the manager so that the manager can you know, manage the library. in other-words handle checking for and installing updates from that repo when available without having to go through the process of manually checking for updates every so often and then downloading the code as a zip file for every update.
I think the public library list is great, but there are many reasons why one might not want to publish their library, and that is probably a good thing. Having to wade through 100 different servo libraries to figure out which ones are working and which ones are buggy isn't something we want. the public list should be a list of functional and generally stable libraries.
Is there a specific reason why this isn't implemented, or has no-one gotten around to making it happen?
I'm not talking about how the manager handles updates and stuff. I am talking about adding a repository to the manager on your machine so that it behaved the way a public library repository behaves. I'm also not saying remove the "install from zip" optin if one so desires to have that level of manual behavior. Just someplace in the settings where we can add additional repositories without having to add them to the public list.
I had the same thought a while ago, but then I put myself in the shoes of the repository owners/maintainers shoes.
Maybe I am mistaken, but allowing local git repositories (do they not default to auto update?) means a master update could break many sketches.
IF the default behaviour of my desktop git is to NOT update when the master updates then I support your idea.
NOTE: I have never been trained on git, in fact in my entire professional life I never heard of it because I retired in 2004 and worked on non open source stuff. So I could be waaaaay off base.
from my understanding, the arduino library manager doesn't update on head commits, it updates on releases. Also, In the arduino IDE, when a library has an update, I have never seen it just update on its own, it pops up a notification, and then I either choose to update or not. but of course that is for the repo that the library manager is pointed to. If you have cloned a repo and that is what the manager is pulling from, then you have complete control over when and if an upstream update is pulled into your repo. it is possible to make it automatically pull, but that is not the default behavior with git.
And of course, those could all be per repo settings, (update from head vs release) (auto update vs notify)
The IDE notifies you of updated libraries. You are presented the option to update on every IDE start. You will see some users with deprecated libraries, and updating breaks their program. Falling back (libraries) makes their programs work again.
True, the arduino library manager is release based.
I think we agree on everything else.
You could ask Arduino for a new feature, but I doubt I will live long enough to see it.