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Re: Use of CVS on large scales


From: Dennis Jones
Subject: Re: Use of CVS on large scales
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 22:00:52 -0700

With the possible exception of mySQL, those are all excellent examples of
"great" software packages that are version controlled with CVS.

I used to work in the Video division (which is now Grass Valley Group) of
Tektronix, and until about a year ago, they used CVS for all of their
revision control needs.  They recently moved to ClearCase, and I believe
their reasons for switching were managerial, not technical.  Apparently they
liked the idea of being able to generate reports from ClearCase and were
wooed by some of the other bells and whistles ClearCase offered.

When Tektronix used CVS, it was sufficient for many very large projects,
each with multiple branches, and there were never any mishaps (in my over 4
years of working there) or loss of data because of CVS itself.  The only
possible problem area you might find is CVS's lack of support for binary
files, but even that can be managed reasonably with careful use.

I have since implemented CVS twice: once for an internet software
development company (who had NO version control at the time), and then again
for my current job as one of several sub-contractors, geographically
separated, all working on the same project.  It is working very well (with
the exception that the server's disk controller is bad), and after the
initial setup, I am now able to easily manage it myself with very little
time or effort.

In my opinion, CVS works GREAT, and I would HIGHLY recommend it for ANY size
project - large or small.

- Dennis


----- Original Message -----
From: "John Minnihan" <address@hidden>
To: <address@hidden>
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 7:35 PM
Subject: Re: Use of CVS on large scales


>
> I have been in business computing for 19 years, and in the software
development
> management space for 6+ years.  I have seen, implemented, used, and/or
> supported:
>
> RCS
> CVS
> Freepository
> Wincvs
> jCVS
> tkCVS
> Clearcase (base and UCM)
> Visual Sourcesafe
> PVCS Version Manager, Tracker and Builder
> MKS Source Integrity
> Gnats
> Bugzilla
> CustomerFirst
> DDTs
> ClearQuest
>
> Your testing expert has a serious case of FUD.  Tell him to go lay down
for a
> few years, and when he gets up, maybe this whole spooky "free software"
thing
> will have gone away.  Ask him if he has ever heard of Perl, Linux, Apache,
BIND
> (DNS), mySQL, Python ... or any of the hundreds of other pieces of great -
and
> free - software that have changed the face of business computing.
>
> For revision control, CVS wins on a feature-to-feature comparison every
time. In
> one case in 1998, I recommended abandonment of a $300K Clearcase
implementation
> in favor of CVS.   If your PHB needs to hear this from someone who is
really is
> an expert, have him/her give me a call directly.
>
> John Minnihan
> (720) 232-4634
>
> address@hidden wrote:
>
> > Guys,
> >
> > We are currently looking at implementing some kind of version control
> > system.  We have been trialling CVS for the past few weeks, storing
sources
> > on a FreeBSD machine and using WinCVS on our development machines.  It
seems
> > that this is exactly what we're looking for.
> >
> > I have struck a problem that I'm hoping some of you can help me with.
> >
> > Our company hired a "testing expert" a week or so ago, and he is
currently
> > opposing our move to roll out WinCVS.
> >
> > This is because:
> > a) He's never heard of it.
> > b) He doubts that it is scalable enough for us.
> > c) He believes that anything that's free _must_ have disadvantages (as
> > opposed to Clearcase for example).
> >
> > This didn't go down too well with me (or my team) because:
> > a) For someone who's supposed to be an expert on testing systems, it
> > surprises me that he's never heard of CVS.
> > b) When talking about scalability, I gave the example that FreeBSD
itself is
> > maintained using CVS.  i.e. implying that we're only building web sites,
not
> > whole operating systems.  This didn't seem to be good enough evidence
for
> > him.
> > c) And of course, I'm a FreeBSD and Open Source fan.
> >
> > So, to cut to the chase... it would be great if some of you could show
me
> > where to find further information about CVS.
> >
> > I'm particularly interested in it's uses for (really)large scale
projects,
> > perhaps even some stats on the quantity of sources it can maintain, any
> > advantages it has over commercial source control products, etc.  I've
> > checked out the CVS web site but none of the information there was
useful in
> > this context.
> >
> > Something like... a case study of a large software company using CVS
would
> > be pefect (I imagine).
> >
> > Thanks for your time everyone.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > [ lucas ]
> >
> > [ the ego has landed ]
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Info-cvs mailing list
> > address@hidden
> > http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-cvs
>
>
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