[pm-h] OT: Which Version Control System To Use?

[G. Wade Johnson]

I worked with CVS for over ten years and haev been working with Subversion
(SVN) for about two years now. Either one is an improvement over VSS (I've
actually had VSS lose history in the past, and neither CVS or SVN has
done that.)

I do disagree with Paul, I've used both CVS in single developer mode and
multi-developer mode. I've only used Subversion as a single developer. I
actually converted to CVS from RCS way back in the distant past.

The biggest difference between VSS and CVS/SVN is a minor change in work
habits. You don't have to check out the code before a change (or after your
last checkin). Your sandbox/working directory is always editable.

I recently read a good article on the differences here:
http://software.ericsink.com/scm/scm_file_merge.html, which is part of a
larger article starting here:
http://software.ericsink.com/scm/source_control.html.

I know that CVS has several GUI clients for different platforms that are
mature and well-used. CVS is also supported by many IDEs either directly or
with a plugin. SVN has fewer clients out there and they are newer. But I have
heard good things about them.

Personally I use the command line tools for both CVS and SVN, so I don't have
much opinion about the GUI tools.

If I was going to suggest one, I'd go with Subversion. CVS has a known
deficiency where renaming and moving files is concerned. Subversion fixed that
(along with many other things). THe only reason I can think of not to use
Subversion is if you don't like the command line and you can't find a GUI tool
you can stand.

That's (far more than) my 2 cents.<grin/>
G. Wade

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 13:26:51 -0500
"Will Willis" <willis3140 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> I have no experience with version control apps on *nix based systems. I've 
> used VSS on Windows, but I've been doing quite a bit of development on my 
> linux box and I'd like to get a version control system up and running.
> 
> I've heard of CVS and Subversion, and I've skimmed the docs on both. I know 
> this isn't really Perl related, but do any of you have any opinions on which
> 
> system would be best for my situation? Will I be in for a shock, coming from
> 
> VSS to either of these systems? Are there GUIs or is everything command 
> line?
> 
> Thanks,
> Will
> 
> 
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