Build automation has always been considered painful, especially for complex builds. So, it seemed like a good idea to change that and come up with a solution that would be easy to use. I want to introduce you to Tycho, the next generation of Maven plugins and tools for building Eclipse plugins and RCP applications.
I’m surprised at the number of organizations out there that use a tool that depends on the Maven Repository, but haven’t yet adopted a repository manager. It could be that no one has made the argument for it. No one has stood up on a platform and called people’s attention to the benefits of using a repository manager. The responses I’ve always heard from organizations that don’t use a Maven repository manager are along the lines of: “We don’t need to get that complex…,” or “Central’s fine, we don’t need to host the entire repository locally…”
Needless to say, there are a few misconceptions floating around about what a good Maven repository “is”. First, it isn’t complex to set up. It will take you a few minutes to download and install Nexus, and we’ve gone out of our way to make it as easy and non-invasive as possible. Second, a repository manager which can cache a remote repository doesn’t cache the entire thing. A good repository manager caches only what you use on an as-needed basis. Here are nine more reasons for people who might be on the fence about a repository manager.