[H-GEN] source control software

Ben Carlyle benc at foxboro.com.au
Thu Oct 21 21:15:42 EDT 1999


[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and
Unix-related topics. ]

Clinton Roy wrote:

> i'd like to have a look at as many different pieces of software as
> possible, currently i plan to have a look at sccs (cssc), rcs, cvs and
> aegis, any other favourites out there? i'd prefer to stick to free
> stuff, as it's the only type of software that hangs around long enough
> and actually makes a difference to a large number of people.

At the T.A.B of Queensland we made use of a very well thought out
RCS wrapper.  It didn't have the sophisticaiton of CVS, instead
it was a simple system with simple commands and interface.  It took
a few minutes to learn and supported development between around
a dozen developers on a single project very well.  Parallel checkout
was not permitted, but neither was it required.  Releases were not
terribly well supported, but the development cycle was short enough
and small enough so that this was not a problem either.

Serious CM tools (as opposed to simple version management) are
required on larger projects, especially when developers that work
on the same code can't easily talk to each other in person.
The bigger the project the more infrastructure is required,
but the more infrastrcture is provided the more effort developers
have to put into maintaining it.  The CM tool I use has a concept
of tasks (which boil down to source code patches) and supports model
(which we do not yet use) where only project managers can create
these chunky CM objects.  The CM infrastructure is then controlled
separately to the actul source code changes.  This is a system that
apparently works quite well in large organisations that use these
kinds of schemes already.

I'd be happy to do you a brief commercially-nonsensitive interview
if you like :)  I'm essentially running the CM systems here at
Foxboro, and could tell you a little about what's going on down
in sydney where a war between CVS users and CCM users has been going
on for two years solid.  The software group is right at the limits
of what CVS can handle without significant hackery, but a mis-timed
and poorly thought out introduction of a more intrusive CM tool
failed miserably.  The problems were mostly to do with a lack of
good experience with the new tool facing a well configured and well
understood CVS system.

> any references to anything that people think might of use are
> appreciated :)

Some of the bigger source code management systems have reasonably
extensive marketing hype, some of which is vaguely meaningful.
Have a look at ClearCase by Rational and Continuus CM by Continuus.
Both are fairly intrusive CM tools, which try to take version
management to a much more sophisticated level.  Both are non-free,
but are used extensively in a wide variety of commercial settings.
These are tools that are meant to automate the software process
as well as provide the service of recording versions and releases
within your software tree.


Benjamin.

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