Open Source Development with CVS: Learn How to Work With Open Source Software 1st Edition

by Karl Franz Fogel (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-1576104903

ISBN-10: 1576104907

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Open Source Development with CVS
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Open Source Development with CVS is one of the first books available that discusses the development and implementation of Open Source software. In this book you will find a complete introduction, tutorial, and reference to the Concurrent Versions System (CVS), along with a detailed survey of the systems and conventions of Open Source development, and how CVS fits into them. If you just begun exploring Open Source software, this book will answer many of your questions; if you're an old hand, it will provide a convenient guide to the most widely used revision control system in the free software world today.

Amazon.com Review

The need for a modern source-code management strategy in the distributed open-source community is paramount. The benevolent dictatorship model of open-source maintainers is only quasi-stable, but it is far better than the other extreme: the chaos of democratic code development.

The best available compromise is the concurrent versioning system (CVS), which introduces proctored code merging into source code management. CVS is ideally suited for worldwide open-source development, and the world is ready for monographs that address the management issues that Per Cederqvist explicitly avoided in his fine 164-page postscript manual distributed with the CVS tar-ball. What is the role of a maintainer/manager in establishing test protocols for code merges? What minimal functional level of developer communications is necessary for merges to remain stable? Is a maintainer-less release possible?

These questions go largely unanswered in Karl Fogel's new Open Source Development with CVS. Fogel's 300-page book consists of chapters alternating between CVS basics and common code maintenance issues. He includes a few anecdotes from open-source lore and lots of nonspecific commonsense guidelines on team software development.

Fogel is at his best when he is engaging us in thinking about what should and should not be under CVS control. He points out that complex relationships exist between developing code and its dependencies on intimately related applications, such as build tools themselves (gcc, autoconf) or partner applications (e.g., the server's client or the client's server). His brief discussion of strategies is too short to be satisfying.

Frustratingly, this book is chock-full of postmodern self-indulgences, such as his boasting reverence for technological ignorance. The discipline needed by good maintainers is missing here; Fogel's informal prose is often grating, and his copious parenthetical remarks are distracting or bullying (they sure are); one wonders where his editor was. Ultimately, his management arguments boil down to an endorsement for the benevolent dictatorship model--a safe conclusion, but one that seems not to use CVS's merging capability for all it's worth. To the question of how to run a project, he responds, "Well, we're all still trying to figure that out, actually." True, and he isn't there yet, but at least he has the questions right. --Peter Leopold

About the Author

Karl Fogel (Chicago, IL) co-founded Cyclic Software in 1995. He now works as a programmer in Chicago, IL and is a member of the CVS development team.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Coriolis Group; 1st edition (October 25, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 316 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1576104907
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1576104903
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.28 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #10,680,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,072 in Computer Operating Systems (Books)
- #7,516 in Software Design & Engineering
- #12,234 in Operating Systems (Books)

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Collin

Indispensible

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2001

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This book has 2 aims:
1) To give you all of the knowledge you need to use and administer CVS, and
2) To provide you with insight on the Open Source movement and management of an Open Source project
On both accounts, Kurt does a top-notch job. His explanations for (1) were detailed, provided command-line input and output to leave no question as to what's supposed to happen, and the language was familiar and easy to read. It is thus far a head above any other book on CVS I've found. His thoughts on (2) obviously showed a strong familiarity with Open Source combined with a realistic and analytical view that I would liken to combining parts of The Cathedral and the Bazaar with an instruction manual.
I highly recommend it. I'd buy it again if I didn't already own it ;-)

6 people found this helpful

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Cameron O'Rourke

Two books in one

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2001

Verified Purchase

Sort of two books in one. The chapters alternate between a tutorial on installing, administering and using CVS, and chapters on the principles of open source development. It helped us get our CVS server up and running. I'm finding lots of similarities between open source development and our own distributed development efforts, so the material is interesting and useful.

One person found this helpful

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reviewer

A GOOD 'CONCURRENT VERSIONS SYSTEM' BOOK

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2003

This "Open Source Development with CVS" is a straightforward book, with emphasis on how to use the open-resource Concurrent Versions System (or CVS). It did a good job in explaining the sequences of network-transparent version control system: including how multiple developers could view and edit codes simultaneously.
The book also provided detailed information on how client-server funtions allow continous operation over the internet. Even how CVS maintains a copy of the source code, (together with the record of who initiated the changes) were clearly explained.
The author of this book essentially wrote it for beginners and intermediate CVS users. Its theme is such that anybody who knows the dynamics of 'Mac OS X', or any of the UNIX-based platforms, will feel at home in it. Advanced CVS users, however, would find in it too elementary. It lacked some of the instructive examples, which any non-beginner would be interested in. Still, its overall outlook remains positive.

One person found this helpful

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Allen R. Marshall

This book was vital in setting up a robust Linux cvs config

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2003

I cannot over-emphasize how useful this book was to me while setting up my cvs repository on Linux. All the examples were germane and were correct, and the gotcha-s were highlighted. I go back to this book all the time. I cannot make any comment regarding the worthiness of this book for folks trying to install cvs on NT, as I blithely skipped over any NT commentary, but as far as Linux/UNIX installation, the book was vital. I fully agree with the high rating this book has enjoyed.

4 people found this helpful

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Aronbo

Great Book

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 1999

I've been using CVS for a couple of years, read the manual and had great success. However, there have been lots of gaps in my understanding and places where I wasn't really sure what was happenning. This book answered those. It has lots of well chosen examples that illustrate points that I've wondered about, but been afraid to try out for fear of really messing up my CVS repository.
The book is a little heavy on the "Open Source" religion, but dismissing it because of that would be a big mistake. This is a fine book.

16 people found this helpful

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Roberto Congiu

It was really what I needed

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2000

I've been considering source control for a long time, but a few months ago it became really critical. I started studying RCS but it was too low-level for what I needed. Then I found out CVS, but the documentation on the web was more for reference than for practical, quick learning and application. This book was really what i needed: its practical but precise approach taught me many helpful concepts saving me lots of time. It's never boring, it's not either too long neither too short.

11 people found this helpful

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Neil Ford

It helped us !

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2000

I was charged with setting up a CVS setup for our company and have found the book very helpful in explaining things like how to set up a repository and install CVS properly on solaris. I've been reading through the chapters on building and tagging and found the way forward.
Usually the book comes to the rescue when we find we need to extend our use and knowledge of CVS a step further. What more can I say ?

11 people found this helpful

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dougfort

Real Life Open Source

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 1999

This is an excellent book about open source development. Chapters on the specifics of CVS are interspersed with chapters on the nuts and bolts of running an open source project. (Fogel adheres to the GPL, under which CVS is released, by making the 'source' of the chapters about CVS available from the 'net). This is the book to read after 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar'.

5 people found this helpful

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Open Source Development with CVS: Learn How to Work With Open Source Software 1st Edition

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