Seperate template from binary

[MabezDev]

We've discussed this a few times, but I think we need to find a consensus as we'll keep discussing it over and over.

History

cargo-generate uses a separated template system, where the templates are independent from the binary.

The status quo

In esp-generate, we are bundling the template with the binary. This has some benefits, and some downsides which we'll need to weigh up here.

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Bundled

Advantages

• esp-generate, will always valid project as the template is a snapshot of the ecosystem at a given time
• Template issues are typically easier to debug, just install the users version of esp-generate and input their config
• Project generation works offline

Disadvantages

• Requires updating esp-generate often
• If a user doesn't update (or misses the fact they have to), they don't get the latest template

Separated

Advantages

• One time install (sort of, there can/will be bugs)
• Might allow for custom templates (think 3rd party templates from ecosystem)

Disadvantages

• With cargo-generate, we struggled to easily repro generation issues
  • This is probably solvable by embedding the git hash of the template in the generated project, and having the option to generate from a git hash
• Requires the internet to generate projects

[bugadani]

Requires the internet to generate projects

cargo already needs internet connection to download dependencies. esp-generate uses internet connection to check for updates. The user probably should have the option to refer to a template on their file system, but otherwise do we have some requirement against internet connections?

[MabezDev]

Requires the internet to generate projects

cargo already needs internet connection to download dependencies. esp-generate uses internet connection to check for updates. The user probably should have the option to refer to a template on their file system, but otherwise do we have some requirement against internet connections?

No requirements, I was just listing pros/cons as I saw them. I don't think requiring an internet connection is unreasonable at all.

[bjoernQ]

We probably should provide some way to not rely on an internet connection - I guess pointing to a local template is good enough for that

And a way to choose an older version ofc