Versioning of files

[f0dder]

A lot of people gripe about VSS, and afaik it isn't even used internally at Microsoft (at least not for the larger parts like the kernel - they have something else for that). I've heard more than one tale about database corruption etc.

In my experience, subversion adds very little overhead in single-developer projects - the initial repository-creation doesn't take long, and after that it's basically just committing your files (in one go) and writing a changelog when you've made enough changes; this is something you should be doing anyway

Oh, and you don't need to set up a subversion server, it can operate directly with file:// URLs; I'd still set up svnserve even for single-developer use on a single machine, though, and set up DNS entries - that makes it easier to move the repository to a server later on.

[tinjaw]

I'd still set up svnserve even for single-developer use on a single machine, though, and set up DNS entries - that makes it easier to move the repository to a server later on.

-f0dder (October 19, 2007, 02:16 AM)

I'm not sure how it would make it any easier (or harder) to move. There is no difference in how you move a repository. svandmin dump/load

[nosh]

SVN does seem to be the tool of choice but I've cursorily tried the Tortoise SVN + Visual SVN combo and then VSS and as far as intuitiveness is concerned VSS wins. There are developers who have used it for years without a problem. I don't know if it was Visual SVN mucking up but I had some real issues going back and forth old/new versions in my test runs. VSS did exactly what I wanted/expected it to. It has the rather annoying quirk about discarding all changes if I rollback but there are a couple of workarounds for that. These are just my first impressions which are very possibly faulty. 

[nontroppo]

This seemed like a cool SVN version of Leopards Time Machine metaphor (sans glitzy graphics!):

http://lifehacker.co...lapseview-312965.php

[f0dder]

I'd still set up svnserve even for single-developer use on a single machine, though, and set up DNS entries - that makes it easier to move the repository to a server later on.

-f0dder (October 19, 2007, 02:16 AM)

I'm not sure how it would make it any easier (or harder) to move. There is no difference in how you move a repository. svandmin dump/load

-tinjaw (October 19, 2007, 05:08 AM)

Simple - after you move the repository (which can either involve dump+load or moving the physical files), you simply update the DNS entry... if you hadn't done this, you'd need to change the repository URL for each of your projects.

nosh: by Visual SVN, do you mean Ankh? Friend of mine has had bad problems with it, and I've had some minor glitches myself - plus it slows down VS startup time humongously.

[tinjaw]

Simple - after you move the repository (which can either involve dump+load or moving the physical files), you simply update the DNS entry... if you hadn't done this, you'd need to change the repository URL for each of your projects.

-f0dder (October 19, 2007, 06:40 PM)

OK, now I understand.

nosh: by Visual SVN, do you mean Ankh?

-f0dder (October 19, 2007, 06:40 PM)

My assumption was that this is what nosh was talking about.

[f0dder]

Oh, didn't know there was a commercial product... at a glance it doesn't seem to offer stuff Ankh doesn't - I wonder if it might even be a blatant rip-off

[wraith808]

I use KeepSafe by Stardock.  It's out of the way until you need it, and doesn't require check-ins/outs.

http://www.stardock....m/products/keepsafe/

For actual development projects, I use QVCS or StarTeam.

http://www.qumasoft.com/index1.html <- QVCS

I don't think the license I have for StarTeam is still available; they used to have a personal license that was free for X users (X being 1 or 5; I can't remember).

[f0dder]

Wraith, in case you have used subversion or other free solutions, can you tell us what makes it better?

It seems to get the stuff subversion supports, you'd need the enterprise edition, which pops in at $49/user. svn is free, and has both commandline, IDE integration, internet (as well as local) support, etc.

[nosh]

nosh: by Visual SVN, do you mean Ankh? Friend of mine has had bad problems with it, and I've had some minor glitches myself - plus it slows down VS startup time humongously.

-f0dder (October 19, 2007, 06:40 PM)

What Tinjaw said.
Ankh was next on my list to try but after I gave VSS a shot I really didn't feel like bothering. Glad I didn't.