Eric Kow
[...] a branch switching tool, utilizing darcs' existing repository data stores, could be built [...] today [...] as a second/third-party tool to darcs.
I heartily approve of this approach. In-repo branches are occasionally useful to me, but the "pollution" of the VCS' interface has always been a major turn-off. The proposed solution allows new users to start with a Darcs that has a one-to-one correspondence between repos and branches. When I give Darcs to someone who has been using tar(1) for version control, I do not need to explain up-front the difference between a branch and a repo. Later, when that user has developed VCS habits and is trusted to work on larger group projects, I can introduce the additional complexity of in- repo branching without overwhelming him.