Version Control Links

Not-so-random links to version control related websites. These are especially interesting if you start diving into the realm of these systems to learn about the kinks of the system used or to learn about the alternatives. Different acronyms used for this topic are SCM (used as both "Source Code Management" and "Software Configuration Management" in a broader scape), RCS ("Revision Control Software") and VCS ("Version Control System"). We feel that SCM can be understood in a broader scape (like we use Trac in combination with Subversion as our SCM) while RCS and VCS clearly are focused on revision tracking of a bunch of files.

Subversion

As we are currently using subversion these links are especially interesting.

•  Subversion website
•  Subversion Book -- Very good read with many real-life examples.
•  Subversion on Wikipedia
•  Move/Rename issue -- there are things that you have to be aware of when moving and renaming files in the source tree.
•  SubConf -- Subversion Conference, this time especially the slides on the coming subversion 1.5 are interesting.
•  StatSVN -- Subversion repository statistics.
•  Merge Tracking -- Discussion of the upcoming merge tracking support in 1.5
•  svnmerge.py -- Utility to aid with merge "tracking" with subversion before 1.5. Used to keep trunk and nao branch in sync.

Alternatives

Here are some links to Subversion alternatives, overview and comparison articles. Since I had a closer look at git so it is stronger represented than others.

•  List of RCS at Wikipedia -- Good overview of dozens of RCS/SCM systems.
•  Comparison of RCS tools at Wikipedia -- Technical comparison of systems.
•  git -- Distributed VCS aiming to be fast and versatile, used for Linux kernel development.
•  Google Tech Talk: Linus Torvalds on git -- Linus giving a talk about why git is superior to other systems.
•  git at Wikipedia -- Thorough description of git and its history.
•  Why git is better for kernel dev compared to Subversion -- Subversion developers arguing against Subversion for Linux kernel development.
•  git-to-subversion crash course -- git explained from a subversion perspective.
•  Intro to git-svn -- Introduction to using git-svn (git with subversion upstream).
•  git-svn for JRuby -- Notes on git-svn for JRuby, knowledge can be transferred for other git-svn accessed projects.
•  git cheat sheet -- if you start using git you want this by your keyboard.
•  Bazaar -- Distributed VCS written in Python
•  Mercurial -- Distributed VCS written in Python

Generic on SCM

Blogs and other generic SCM information websites.

•  A Visual Guide to Version Control -- Nice introduction what version control is all about.
•  Intro to Distributed Version Control -- Good introduction to distributed version control in comparison to centralized version control.
•  Dave on SCM Blog -- Interesting information, seems a little biased towards  AccuRev though.
•  Torvalds on Centralized vs. Distributed -- Interesting explanation of the difference of centralized SCM (like CVS, Subversion) and distributed SCMs (more specifically git here)
•  Version Control Blog -- Blog with not so random articles on VCS.