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Milan, > I do not to whom to talk to so I am telling my observations here: > > I gave a try to WinCVS 2.0.2.4 but I was disappointed that appropriate > > documentation was only for command line work. There is not appropriate > > documentation(explaining GUI activities) for version 2.0. > Command line configuration > is not a option. Is there anywhere nice GUI documentation for > WinCVS 2.0.2.4 or I should > maybe better keep working with ClearCase ? CVS really is not anything at all like ClearCase, but it can be used to solve similar business problems - though usually with a very different process/workflow. There is more than one SCCM software system - mostly because different software does different things better - the best software for your SCCM system will depend on your business requirements. A few notes: * if you have a question about WinCVS ask the WinCVS mailing list not the CVS or CVSNT one http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/cvsgui * if you have a question about TortoiseCVS ask the TortoiseCVS mailing list not the CVS or CVSNT one http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=48103 * no GUI is a substitute for education - CVS is a powerful and complex piece of software. If you are going to rely on CVS for tracking changes you should buy a good book on the subject and read it thoroughly (eg: 'All About CVS' which I had a hand in writing, or 'Essential CVS' or one of many others). * Both TortoiseCVS and WinCVS come with extensive documentation (but I agree the WinCVS doccs are lacking volunteers to keep it up to date): http://www.tortoisecvs.org/help.html And http://www.wincvs.org/winhtml/wincvs11.htm * A major feature of free/open source software is that other people contribute, eg: http://www.cvsnt.org/pipermail/cvsnt/2005-February/017168.html Describing the difference in documentation between a US$10,000.00 per developer licensed software and something you started using without so much as paying a dime is a little unfair - IBM wont even answer basic questions about ClearCase until you've also been through accredited training. If you spend as much on CVS as you (or more likely your employer) has spent on ClearCase you will find you have a valuable and powerful tool. Finally a few basic notes about choosing a SCCM tool - to choose software for a change management system you should have: 1) looked at your business requirements and identified specific measurable criteria to determine the success or failure of SCCM in supporting those requirements 2) chosen a SCCM methodology that supports those requirements and 3) determined that the SCCM methodology can be implemented in CVS effectively After you have implemented your SCCM utilising CVS and other tools you should: 4) continuously measure the criteria to determine the rate of success of the SCCM project 5) invest in your open source software by providing documentation, hours of coding and/or financial support for the software 6) upgrading the software to keep with current features 7) continue to study industry best-practice for how SCCM is helping other similar companies A support mailing list like info-cvs or cvsnt.support is ideal for helping you implement your methodology in CVS, but not at helping you determine the advantages and disadvantages of methodologies that are unimplementable in CVS. And any SCCM oriented mailing list is unsuitable to helping you determine your business goals. Even for a 'home' project you will still have objectives (or else you just wouldn't use SCCM software at all). A newsgroup more dedicated to generic discussion of SCCM is this one, though like all mailing lists it has its quirks: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.software.config-mgmt/topics?lnk=srg Note: some members do go on a lot about a web site 'cmcrossroads' - please be aware that 'cmcrossroads' is is by no means objective, just as any one person on this mailing list, or config-mgmt should not be considered objective. Remember: SCCM is an overhead. Or to put it more bluntly, SCCM is a cost. The reason why so many people do not like version control is that usually the costs outweight the benefits (Susan Dart previously of the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute did some studies to document this I believe). CVS may be 'free' but SCCM will cost you - it will cost you every hour of every day. Investing some cold hard time (and probably cash) in good analysis of your business requirements, of SCCM methodologies, project management and finally tools and software will pay off in ensuring that your final system delivers measurable benefits that outweight the costs. Regards, Arthur Barrett