Comment 36 for bug 109114

Implementation suggestion:
  (I have been bitten by this bug twice, now, and have spent some time thinking about it.)
Large files are almost never source files, but Bazaar is only designed to handle source -- and compares files as if they were source - byte by byte - for changes. Large files are usually compressed media or compressed databases which can't be 'diffed' and probably can't be compressed. So:

1) Assign some arbitrary size value beyond which files are considered "large". This limit will be a matter of some debate and will probable have to be user-settable, though 99% of users would never touch it.

2) When a file is beyond that size, do not attempt to compress or examine it. Simply make a fingerprint or CRC of some kind, and record that, along with a (local) version of the modification datetime. If the modification time changes, check the fingerprint for a mismatch. If there is a mismatch, copy the file as is into the .bzr tree. (Supply an option for max number of copies to retain.)

3) Using this tool, restore the video of President Mandela explaining the meaning of the term "ubuntu" to the distribution.

I suggest that this would be fairly easy for a member of the team, but very difficult for an outsider.
--
Vernon