[e-lang] Source control for E?

[Chris Hibbert]

> CVS: Open souce. IDE support. Poor branch support. Poor label 
> support. Poor file moving/renaming. Poor reliability (e.g., no
> atomicity). Just say no.

I haven't used it enough to have an opinion that should count. 
sourceforge offers it as one of their alternatives.  Comes with a 
browsable HTTP interface.

 > Perforce. Not open source, but can be used for open source for free.
 > IDE support. Excellent branch support. Excellent label support.
 > Good-excellent file move support. High reliability/performance. Less
 > familiar? A possibility.

We used it at Agorics, and I have since used the free personal edition 
for my own purposes.  I think Perforce got the semantics of source 
control exactly right.  The implementation is solid, and it's quite 
usable.  I think there's reasonable integration with IDEs, though I 
haven't used it this way myself.  The free version for open source 
projects makes price not an issue.  The s/w is solid enough that not 
having access to the source isn't a hurdle.  Perforce understands 
managing configurations of files, recreating releases, using labels, etc.

> Subversion. Open source. IDE support. Branches?? Labeles?? Moving??
> Good atomicity? A possibility.

I've been using Subversion since I started at CommerceNet.  It's very 
close to as good as Perforce.  The interface is almost as clean as P4. 
The IDE integration is reasonable.  As Kevin said, the virtual copies 
for branches and tags work reasonably well.  The semantics is basically 
right.  (Files and configurations of files are persistent snapshots. 
Future changes, including move, delete, and rename don't change the 
accessibility of historical versions.  Labeled configurations or 
configuration as of any date can be retrieved later, no matter what 
changes are made in later check-ins.)

It's open source, but solid enough that it hasn't mattered to me.  The 
off-line mode allows significant work without connecting back to the 
server.  Subversion also has a browsable HTTP interface, and is the 
other source control solution supported by sourceforge.

> Darcs. Wierd :-)

Haven't seen it.

> I'm on the fence about subversion vs. perforce. I'm familiar with
> Perforce and know that it can handle the project. It requires runnign
> the server though. Subversion may have "free" hosting sites. Comments?
> Other good options?

Is there an objection to hosting at sourceforge?  They'll gladly host 
the source, enable distribution of binaries and sources, allow browsing 
of the current checked-in state, etc.  You can get subversion, which is 
a fine answer.  SourceForge doesn't mind if you change your main 
sourceforge page to point to your separate web site for other things. 
You also get bug reporting and tracking, feature requests, news 
distributions, and a bunch of other tools.  They handle backup.  Project 
admins can manage who is allowed to checkin sources, who can respond to 
bugs, who can create releases, etc.

Chris
-- 
It is easy to turn an aquarium into fish soup, but not so
easy to turn fish soup back into an aquarium.
-- Lech Walesa on reverting to a market economy.

Chris Hibbert
hibbert at mydruthers.com
Blog:   http://pancrit.org