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geda:version_control_migration [2007/04/21 10:48]
peterb Instructions for installing git on Linux
geda:version_control_migration [2012/02/20 15:14] (current)
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 +====== Version Control Migration ======
 +
 +===== Status Quo =====
 +
 +Currently, gEDA uses CVS.  CVS is the "​original"​ version control system used for collaborating on open source projects.
 +
 +Unfortunately,​ CVS has a number of problems:
 +
 +  - CVS does not support the concept of patch sets.  That is, it's very difficult to work out what changes went into CVS together without using dodgy tools like [[http://​www.cobite.com/​cvsps/​|cvsps]].
 +  - Merging with CVS is painful, especially when there is keyword expansion brokenness such as the ''​Log''​ keyword.
 +  - CVS doesn'​t support renames preserving history.
 +  - The overhead involved in creating and managing a branch in CVS is such that people tend to do one of the following:
 +     - Don't bother
 +     - Use another VCS locally, then export patches, then commit patches to CVS.  This is a big hassle for everyone.
 +     - Do II. **and** use a branch in CVS, which is even more hassle, but means people can see the changes in advance.
 +  - You can't do anything in CVS (view logs, view "​blame"​ for a line of code, create diffs to previous versions) without being online & connecting to the repository.
 +
 +===== What We Need =====
 +
 +gEDA has a development process that involves a number of people working independently on separate changes. ​ Some of these are a single changeset hacked together in a few minutes, some involve several major changes and are developed over a matter of months. ​ Often, ​ in order to track down a tricky bug, it is necessary for a developer to try and work out what a fellow developer did several months ago.
 +
 +The following features would be deemed desirable in a version control system:
 +
 +  - Free as in beer as well as free as in speech.
 +  - Actively developed/​maintained.
 +  - Atomic commits (a.k.a. changesets).
 +  - All users have their own copy of the history.
 +  - Users can make local branches/​commits without being logged onto a remote server ("​distributed"​ repository model).
 +  - Merge & rename tracking.
 +  - Easy to transition to from CVS.
 +
 +Using the [[http://​en.wikipedia.org/​wiki/​Comparison_of_revision_control_software|comparison matrix at Wikipedia]],​ it looks like only [[http://​www.selenic.com/​mercurial/​wiki/​|Mercurial]] and [[http://​git.or.cz/​|git]] have the features we require.
 +
 +A number of factors militate in favour of using git:
 +
 +  * Existing experience within the the gEDA development community.
 +  * More extensively used by major projects (Linux kernel, X.org X server, OLPC, WINE).