OT?: Document/source code version control

Hi all.

I am in the process of producing a pile of programs and
documents in various stages of evolution:

- Some documents are finished reports, or almost finished
  reports that only need proofreading.
- Others are in slightly less evolved stages, missing a
  chapter or two, or missing data demonstrations.
- Other still are merely "post-it notes", containing key
  word reminders of some idea I had once upon a time,
  or the outline of some report-to-be.
- Some programs are self-contained while others are
  merely tests of program syntax.
- Etc.

As of yet, I am capable of keeping track of what's going on,
but I will not be for much longer. Hence I need some sort
of system for document/version control.

Do anybody out there have experience with these sorts of
systems? Are they suitable for small companies, or only
for the multinasional mastodonts? Do anybody have suggestions
to what version control systems to check out?

Rune

Rune Allnor wrote:
> 
> Hi all.
> 
> I am in the process of producing a pile of programs and
> documents in various stages of evolution:
> 
> - Some documents are finished reports, or almost finished
>   reports that only need proofreading.
> - Others are in slightly less evolved stages, missing a
>   chapter or two, or missing data demonstrations.
> - Other still are merely "post-it notes", containing key
>   word reminders of some idea I had once upon a time,
>   or the outline of some report-to-be.
> - Some programs are self-contained while others are
>   merely tests of program syntax.
> - Etc.
> 
> As of yet, I am capable of keeping track of what's going on,
> but I will not be for much longer. Hence I need some sort
> of system for document/version control.
> 
> Do anybody out there have experience with these sorts of
> systems?

I have used CVS, SVN, Perforce and GNU Arch.

> Are they suitable for small companies, or only
> for the multinasional mastodonts?

I use Perforce at work and think it is horrid. CVS is probably
a little too limited and old fashioned to recommend it nowadays.

I use GNU Arch for all my own stuff because I think its better
than SVN. However GNU Arch does not currently play nicely with
windows so if you want to use it with windows clients, SVN is
probably a better bet.

> Do anybody have suggestions
> to what version control systems to check out?

If you only use Unix/Linux then my recomendation is GNU Arch.

If you need to use windows then SVN is a better bet.

Erik
-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
  Erik de Castro Lopo  nospam@mega-nerd.com (Yes it's valid)
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
Saying Python is easier than C++ is like saying that turning a 
light  switch on or off is easier than operating a nuclear reactor.

Rune Allnor wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> I am in the process of producing a pile of programs and
> documents in various stages of evolution:
>
> - Some documents are finished reports, or almost finished
>   reports that only need proofreading.
> - Others are in slightly less evolved stages, missing a
>   chapter or two, or missing data demonstrations.
> - Other still are merely "post-it notes", containing key
>   word reminders of some idea I had once upon a time,
>   or the outline of some report-to-be.
> - Some programs are self-contained while others are
>   merely tests of program syntax.
> - Etc.
>
> As of yet, I am capable of keeping track of what's going on,
> but I will not be for much longer. Hence I need some sort
> of system for document/version control.
>
> Do anybody out there have experience with these sorts of
> systems? Are they suitable for small companies, or only
> for the multinasional mastodonts? Do anybody have suggestions
> to what version control systems to check out?
>
> Rune

I cannot urge you strongly enough to use a version control system, not
just for code but also for documents.  The VCS will see them all as
files that have changes to be tracked.  If you ever want to get back an
old version of a file  then a VCS is for you.

I use WinCVS at work.  We were a small company with around 10 software
engineers at the time so needed something cheap - this is free.  Since
we settled on CVS a number of years ago there are more free VCS systems
available.  I have heard very good reports of SUBVERSION and its
windows incarnation TortoiseSVN (also both free).  I am intending to
use this at home for my own projects but have not set it up yet.

There has been a thread in the last couple of weeks on
comp.arch.embedded that asked the same question as you are asking.

Ian

http://www.satamatics.com

Hi Rune,

Rune Allnor wrote:

> Do anybody out there have experience with these sorts of
> systems? Are they suitable for small companies, or only
> for the multinasional mastodonts? Do anybody have suggestions
> to what version control systems to check out?

Well, a first (free) approximation would be to use CVS for version
control.  It's free and relatively painless to install
(https://www.cvshome.org/).

As you also have notes etc. I'd actually recommend that you extend
things a little (a lot?) further and go with something like a Wiki
(e.g. http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/).  This is more of a pain to set
up (Apache as a web-server, Python as the implementation language), but
it has the benefit of being MUCH easier to use (IMHO, YMMV, Objects in
the mirror are larger than they appear, etc, etc, etc).

These are definitely NOT just for multinationals.  I used RCS (similar
to CVS) to keep my thesis documents revision-controlled after a minor
accident with Chapter 3.

Ciao,

Peter K.

Rune Allnor wrote:

> Hi all.
> 
> I am in the process of producing a pile of programs and
> documents in various stages of evolution:
> 
> - Some documents are finished reports, or almost finished
>   reports that only need proofreading.
> - Others are in slightly less evolved stages, missing a
>   chapter or two, or missing data demonstrations.
> - Other still are merely "post-it notes", containing key
>   word reminders of some idea I had once upon a time,
>   or the outline of some report-to-be.
> - Some programs are self-contained while others are
>   merely tests of program syntax.
> - Etc.
> 
> As of yet, I am capable of keeping track of what's going on,
> but I will not be for much longer. Hence I need some sort
> of system for document/version control.
> 
> Do anybody out there have experience with these sorts of
> systems? Are they suitable for small companies, or only
> for the multinasional mastodonts? Do anybody have suggestions
> to what version control systems to check out?
> 
> Rune
> 
Version control _everything_.  If you're a unix user it should come with 
RCS, Linux should come with RCS and quite possibly CVS.  I use RCS under 
Cygwin because it's just me, but if I ever do anything that involves 
more than 5 files at a time I'll learn how to use CVS or another free VCS.

In production environments you should have a build document that allows 
you to start with the VCS archives and possibly a well-guarded CD from 
your tool vendor, go buy a computer at Radio Shack or Sears, install 
software, and build code that's bit-for-bit exactly like what you built 
the first time.

-- 
-------------------------------------------
Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

RCS is really easy to use, and it comes free with Linux.
$.02

Rune Allnor wrote:

> [..] Hence I need some sort
> of system for document/version control.

If your documents are all based on ASCII (meaning
not binary formats like Word Documents) you
can try cvs. I use it for almost everything.

If you have also non ASCII documents try subversion.
Since this is more or less the successor to cvs I
recommend to start with subversion anyway.

bye
Andreas
-- 
Andreas Hnnebeck | email: ah@despammed.com
----- privat ---- | www  : http://www.huennebeck-online.de
Fax/Anrufbeantworter: 0721/151-284301
GPG-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/andreas.asc
PGP-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/pgp_andreas.asc

porterboy76@yahoo.com wrote:
> RCS is really easy to use, and it comes free with Linux.
> $.02

Which is it then....
free or $0.02 ?

Andreas Huennebeck wrote:
> Rune Allnor wrote:
>
> > [..] Hence I need some sort
> > of system for document/version control.
>
> If your documents are all based on ASCII (meaning
> not binary formats like Word Documents) you
> can try cvs. I use it for almost everything.
>
> If you have also non ASCII documents try subversion.
> Since this is more or less the successor to cvs I
> recommend to start with subversion anyway.
>
> bye
> Andreas
> --
> Andreas Hnnebeck | email: ah@despammed.com
> ----- privat ---- | www  : http://www.huennebeck-online.de
> Fax/Anrufbeantworter: 0721/151-284301
> GPG-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/andreas.asc
> PGP-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/pgp_andreas.asc

I use CVS every day (WinCVS) and this is perfectly well able to
control/store binary files as well as ascii source/text.

Ian

"Ian" <ian_okey@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1119529228.219259.249890@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
> Andreas Huennebeck wrote:
> > Rune Allnor wrote:
> >
> > > [..] Hence I need some sort
> > > of system for document/version control.
> >
> > If your documents are all based on ASCII (meaning
> > not binary formats like Word Documents) you
> > can try cvs. I use it for almost everything.
> >
> > If you have also non ASCII documents try subversion.
> > Since this is more or less the successor to cvs I
> > recommend to start with subversion anyway.
> >
> > bye
> > Andreas
> > --
> > Andreas Hnnebeck | email: ah@despammed.com
> > ----- privat ---- | www  : http://www.huennebeck-online.de
> > Fax/Anrufbeantworter: 0721/151-284301
> > GPG-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/andreas.asc
> > PGP-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/pgp_andreas.asc
>
> I use CVS every day (WinCVS) and this is perfectly well able to
> control/store binary files as well as ascii source/text.

Yes, most version control systems can store binary files just fine, but what you
lose is the ability to easily view differences graphically (say in a MS Word
document) like you can with text files.  That may be a significant limitation
for some.