What is the CVSNT Project

The CVSNT Project was began by several developers in 1999 to resolve problems with the open source CVS system, in particular support for a CVS server on Windows, Case Insensitive Filenames, and usability issues.

What is the EVS Project (CVSNT 3.x and EVSCM)

What is CVS

This is the function at the heart of all Source Code Management,Document Management and Configuration Management Systems.

CVSNT Professional and CVS Suite include additional tools to assist with deploying files to test and production environments, tracking who or what processes initiated the changes and much more.

What is the difference between CVS and CVSNT

CVSNT has continued to add features to the original CVS that support modern version control and configuration management best practice as well as maintain feature parity with CVS.

Today CVSNT is the most widely deployed version of CVS and is distributed with TortoiseCVS and WinCVS.

What is the difference between CVSNT 2.x and EVS (CVSNT 3.x)

Why not merge CVSNT and CVS?

Merging the projects and merging the repositories for the two projects has been discussed several times with different members of the CVS project team. The problem appears to be that the CVS project has an established charter that dictates that only some kinds of changes are suitable for inclusion in that project, see here and also here. This is considered the CVS Project Charter.

The organisation of the CVSNT project has been designed to not hinder development with such a charter. Not having such a limiting charter encourages creativity and adaptation. Specifically since the software is designed to manage changes we feel that the software itself should not hinder change. The CVSNT project accepts change and changes as a part of the basic concept of version management, including changes to expand the supported methodologies. This has allowed the CVSNT project to add features and make architectural changes that the CVS project has not and probably will not.

This difference in philosophy as to how to accept changes is the core problem in merging the project teams. Both teams feel that each philosophy produces a result that users of each product want. Generally that is:

• CVS users want a free version control tool that implements the unreserved distributed methodology for unix, linux and cygwin.
• CVSNT users want a free version control tool that implements latest "best practice" including unreserved distributed as well as reserved and centralised for windows, mac, unix, linux and os/400.

What sort of patches prevent the CVSNT project and the CVS project from merging?

However leaving that aside, a recent conversation between some of the developers from each team revealed that these kinds of patches would cause the most problems:

• Structural Changes.
  CVSNT has changed the structure of some of the source code to make it possible to reduce security risks through better memory management, and allow the dynamic removal of insecure protocols such as pserver.

• Support for alternative ideologies to the core "Unreserved Distributed" model
• Features which are not core version control fucntions but could be seen as extensions to version control
• Features that some porting developers would find it difficult to support on their platforms.

Why not merge CVSNT and OpenCVS?

Where can I find old versions ?

You may also use the CVSNT client to checkout the source code of any publically released version of CVSNT and compile it yourself. For instructions on getting the source using CVSNT please see http://www.cvsnt.org/wiki/Download.

Where is the open source project ?

How do I use CVSNT ?

A good place to start is the manual or purchase the CVS Suite which includes an excellent eBook on using CVSNT. Training is avilable to CVS Professional Support customers.

You will eventually want to determine a configuration management procedure that enables you or your organisation to meet its management objectives and works with your development culture or workflow. The eBook included in the CVS Suite is written to assist you in this process.

Can I use CVSNT to replace Visual SourceSafe, PVCS, ClearCase or Perforce?

CVSNT is not an emulator designed to replace any of them. However these tools solve problems generally defined by the phrases "version control" and "configuration management", and those are the same problems that CVSNT is designed to solve. Therefore in some situations it may be possible to switch one for the other and have very little impact on your business.

Several scripts are available for converting the core repositories of some versioning systems such as Visual SourceSafe to a CVSNT repository. March Hare Software can also provide consulting and training to assist with this.

Can I use CVSNT to replace CVS?

CVSNT Server and command line client are available for free download pre-compiled for the following platforms:

• Windows
• Mac OS X 10.3.7
• Solaris 9
• HPUX 11i
• Red Hat ES Linux v4

How can I support or contribute to the development of CVSNT?

• Financially by purchasing CVS Suite or CVS Professional Support.
• Contributing to the development - in particular by testing, producing test scripts and updating documentation.
• Advocating and publicising CVSNT

The first step to contributing to the development of CVSNT is to subscribe to the mailing list.

Newsgroup
news://news.cvsnt.org/support.cvsnt

E-mail list
http://www.cvsnt.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/cvsnt

The project currently has a need for testers. To test CVSNT you will need to set up your Windows/Linux/Solaris or HPUX workstation with Python and checkout the source code from the CVSNT repository. There are many existing test scripts in the repository however we need many many more cases covered which are presently done by hand. CVSNT also benefits from all the tests being ran on as many different environments as possible. Contact the newsgroup for more information.

There is a lot of mis-information on the web about CVS/CVSNT and not a lot of clear information about benefits and ease of migration from CVS to CVSNT. If you are a good writer then you can contribute to CVSNT by writing an article about CVSNT and submitting it for publication to an e-zine, a newspaper or a magazine.

Where are the GPL sources for Graphical Front Ends

How can I add information to the Wiki

You are encouraged to contribute to this documentation. If you are modifying an existing entry, please make sure you also fill in the comment field explaining the change.

Due to spam problems the wiki is only editable by users who request edit rights. To request edit rights send an email to the mailing list with the subject "request for Wiki edit rights" and give a brief explanation of what you propose to contribute.

Is there a list of current outstanding bugs?

Where can I download stable releases of CVSNT?

The download page for stable releases of the free CVSNT is: http://march-hare.com/cvspro.

At the far right of the page is a "download box", choose the download you want, choose an export server and accept the license terms by pressing the button.

Where can I download testing and unstable versions of CVSNT?

Support for these versions is only available from the open source CVSNT newsgroup and mailing list.

Is CVSNT available for VMS / OpenVMS ?

Are March Hare Software going to begin charging for CVSNT?

Component parts of CVSNT (CVSAPI, CVSTOOLS, CVSFS) are licensed under the GNU Library General Public License (LGPL) which allows 3rd party plugins to be created using any available license.

March Hare Software will produce such plugins under commercial license terms.

What is the March Hare Software vision for CVS / CVSNT

Implementing version control effectively has a cost, but the benefits far outweighs that cost.

To see the vision come to pass we believe in making version control solutions widely available at minimum cost and tailored for use by the "average" computer user.

For version control to be effective it must ensure the integrity of all managed items in each stage of their lifecycle, make their evolution more manageable, and their interrelationship clear.

The effectiveness can be improved by implementing automated techniques for Insulation, Security and Access Control, Lifecycle Management, Communication and Detailed Reporting.

The result of using effective configuration management should include improved productivity, reduced cost of production, and shorter time to deliver completed work.

How do March Hare Software plan development of CVS Suite and CVSNT

• Q1: July -September
• Q2: October - December
• Q3: January - March
• Q4: April - June

This direction and these goals are always guided by our overall vision for CVS / CVSNT / EVS. Our planning is high level mostly conceptual, however usually includes some specific technical targets that we feel will provide a better platform for feature growth.

Issues such as reliability and performance are always considered but are not explicitly labelled or targetted at this level.

Each quarter the targets are further refined to include specific features or respond to market conditions and customer feedback.

How does the Open Source Community plan CVSNT and EVS development

The tree is equally open to all members of the community, both commercial and individual.

What releases of CVS / CVSNT have March Hare planned for 2008/2009

• Q1: CVSNT 2.5.04 Stable
• Q1: EVS Windemere RC
• Q2: EVS Windemere Stable
• Q3: Updates to EVS
• Q4: CVSNT 2.5.05 Stable
• Q4: Updates to EVS

This plan is provided only for information. By publication of this plan March Hare Software do not warrant or guarantee these features or dates or versions in any way.

What releases of CVS Suite have March Hare planned for 2008

Advocacy and marketing in 2005/2006/2007

March Hare Software are the primary contributors to the CVSNT development project and 2005 through to 2006 have been successful years for us with the development of the CVS Professional and CVS Suite products. Through these products we have been able to assist many commercial software developers in creating good CM systems based on CVSNT. In many cases they have told us they were on the verge of choosing other "closed" systems due to a percieved lack of commercial support for the "open" ones like CVSNT.

Our success is based on the quality of the CVSNT product, which is a reflection of the quality of the people who contribute including Tony Hoyle, Torsten, Jerzy, Bo, Oliver, Glen and many others. My personal thanks goes out to all the contributors: large and small.

The basic layout of development plans for 2007 are in the FAQ here.

CVS Suite 2.5.04 will be released soon including the new CVSNT Server and Client 2.5.04, and updated eBook, WorkspaceManager, ReleaseManager, VS.NET integration (SCCI) and updated integration for Bugzilla and Audit. CVS Suite 2.5.04 also includes improved large file support for slow wide area networks.

During the two years we have also had the fantastic opportunity to meet up with some of the project contributors who are not part of the official March Hare team, including Derek Price - longstanding contributor to CVS and editor of "Essential CVS", the CVS bible for many years. March Hare Software also purchased new development hardware for Torsten Martinsen to use with the 64 bit support of TortoiseCVS.

Looking ahead to 2007 and 2008 we have a major new product release EVS Windemere - a new open standards based engine for CM processes including support for many different clients (including CVSNT clients), a daabase backend for the server and much more. There are also some exciting new commercial products to make versioning in the corporate environment simple and effective. We will continue to make the server and command line client available without charge¹.

We have spent some of the past two years on advocating for CVSNT directly with other commercial organisations, as well as in public forums such as the GNU CVS newsgroup, Config Mgmnt Newsgroup, Wikipedia, CM Crossroads etc, much of this involves clearing up commonly held misconceptions and directing people to the correct newsgroups for support questions. Derek Price and others in the CVS team have been very supportive in this, helping people understand that the products are different, when CVSNT may be worth considering and where to go for the support.

CVSNT is a mature product with most of the features of commercial software packages that cost significantly more to implement. Platform support, IDE integrations, security, simple authentication, change sets, audit, mergepoints, and of course inexpensive commercial support.

CVS Suite provides a clear, easy to follow, step by step guide to using CVSNT in a commercial develpoment environment and the tools to do it with.

In 2005 and 2006 we have marketed these products through our new web site (including some pages in German, Japanese and Spanish), sales and support teams in Australia, Germany, Great Britain, North America and Spain and began or continued working with Microsoft, Sun, IBM and HP and advertised with Visual Studio 2005 and iSeries buyers guides.

In 2007 we plan to:

• translate the entire site to German, Japanese and Spanish
• open a sales and support office in the USA (we already have a toll free number in the USA for sales and support that is diverted to our other centres)
• publish regular press releases
• make it easier to have both CVSNT and CVS installed on one linux system and approach Linux vendors about including CVSNT in standard builds
• approach commercial CVS source code repository hosts about the commercial benefits of using CVSNT
• release a print version of the eBook - All About CVS, probably through Amazon, initially in English but with some luck before the close of 2007 in German, Japanese and Spanish too.

March Hare appreciates the Open Source Communities support in the success of these. A list of ways to contribute is in the FAQ here.

During the last audit period (the 12 months to August 2005) CVSNT was downloaded 1.4 million times, our aim is that more people find it, and more people implement it successfully.

What features have March Hare Software added to CVSNT 2.5.04

• Usability Enhancements
• Server performance statistics added to Audit Database
• Improved performance with large files on slow wide area networks
• Built in repository caching / repository replicaction for use in slow wide area networks
• Tested on XP/Vista and Server 2003/2008 both x32 and x64

This was released and release notes published on November 5th, 2008.

What features are March Hare Software Planning for CVSNT 2.5.05

March Hare Software are currently planning to deliver the following features in CVSNT 2.5.05:

• Support for SuSE Enterprise 9 EMT64

This plan is provided only for information. By publication of this plan March Hare Software do not warrant or guarantee these features or dates or versions in any way.

What features are March Hare Software Planning for CVSNT 2.5.06

March Hare Software are currently planning to deliver the following features in CVSNT 2.5.06:

• Merged features with CVSNT SJIS
• Localised Messages for German and Japanese

This plan is provided only for information. By publication of this plan March Hare Software do not warrant or guarantee these features or dates or versions in any way.

What features are March Hare Software Planning for CVSNT for Mac OS X

March Hare Software are looking to add another resource to our development team to assist in the delivery of enhancements to CVSNT for Mac OS X. Planned features include:

• Mac OS X System Preferences
• Mac OS X WorkspaceViewer
• Spotlight plugin (for repository server)
• Dashboard widget
• Sync integration

The timeframe of adding this resource will depend on growth of the CVSNT Mac community (both commercial and open source).

This plan is provided only for information. By publication of this plan March Hare Software do not warrant or guarantee these features or dates or versions in any way.

What features are March Hare Software Planning for EVS Windemere

March Hare Software are currently planning to deliver the following features in EVS Windemere (previously known as CVSNT 3.1.01):

• Atomic Commits
• Database backend (no more RCS files)
• RCS "interface" for legacy integrations
• Support for CVS/CVSNT/SVN and WebDAV clients

Additional features for EVS Windemere are planned to be announced in July 2007.

This plan is provided only for information. By publication of this plan March Hare Software do not warrant or guarantee these features or dates or versions in any way.

How many people use CVSNT?

Gartner research has published statistics in the past on Software Configuration Management Market Share based on license revenue, however we have been unable to find any research done based on use in the field.

Most other industry analysts use this same approach (eg: Worldwide Software Configuration Management Tools 2004 Vendor Shares", #204821, December 2006 [previously #33588, June 2005] by IDC). This research appears designed to assist vendors and investors in determining how much money is available in the marketplace for these tools and to which vendor the majority of the money is going. The research does not benefit the person who is choosing a tool based on popularity (in use by many people on a day to day basis) or effectiveness (has achieved productivity and reliability gains that software configuration management is designed to). In particular the studies:

• give a natural preference to software which is costly over software which is economical
• does not account at all for software implemented without a license cost
• provide a market share benefit to companies which sell software which is then later replaced due to implementation difficulties.

Gartner research have given us a quote for performing some study based on use in the field, however no budget has been allocated to fund this in 2005/2006. Furthermore it would not be possible to publish the results of this study since Gartner require a signed non-disclosure agreement from any person who views it or information distilled from it.

Built / executable copies of CVSNT are included in TortoiseCVS and WinCVS and also downloaded from the main March Hare web site. From these sites roughly 30,000 copies per week are downloaded. This does not include copies of CVSNT which are built from source in the "traditional open source" way or copies of any version which is in development or test (unstable).

The best research we have is incidental and that indicates that CVSNT is the most widely adopted versioning tool in use in the Software Development industry today.

Why do March Hare collect so much information when I download CVSNT?

The page http://march-hare.com/downloads/ is the only place you can download the evaluation version of UD6 - software for connecting Uniface Development Environment with version control such as CVSNT.

Are the commercial releases of CVSNT the same as the free ones?

March Hare Software provide two levels of commercial support. Professional customers receive patched versions of CVSNT as frequently as every fortnight (but not usually so - since there are many fortnights with no bugs reported). Professional support customers have access to the entire history of stable and patched versions.

CVS Suite (basic support) customers have access to the entire history of stable and patched versions for the release which they purchased a license for.

Additionally Professional and Basic level support customers also receive some plugins and client applications which are not licensed under the GPL and are not available for free. The source code for these is not available in the CVSNT repository.

Conversely not all versions of CVSNT are made available to professional and basic support customers. Releases of CVSNT made to these customers undergo additional quality assurance and release procedures.
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