Free Source Code Version Control Software
Manage multiple versions of your software efficiently and intelligently
Free Source Code Version Control Management Software
If you maintain software, you will probably find yourself needing to manage multiple versions of your software. The packages on this page allow you to manage them in a space efficient manner. Instead of storing the different versions of your sources in entirety, these packages store only the differences between the versions. You can then use the various programs in the package to retrieve different versions of your source code, check your change log, compare the changes made in your current source with previous versions, etc. In general, unless your program is very trivial, it is usually a good idea to put your program under a source code version control management software from the very start. The version control software not only provides you savings in storage space, it also helps you to track down earlier versions of your code should you, say, inadvertantly introduce a code change that you regret later.
Note: some of the packages listed here are designed for individual programmers working on a single machine while others (eg CVS) are designed for distributed projects that have numerous programmers in different locations working on it.
If you are doing distributing development, you will probably also need a
web host. Another way is to use a specialized
web host that supports source code hosting and distributed development like the commercial
CVSDude
(which supports SVN and CVS in spite of its name) so that you don't have to install SVN/CVS and bug-tracking software on your web host.
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Disclaimer
The information provided on this page comes without any warranty whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because a program, book, document or service is listed here or has a good review does not mean that I endorse or approve of the program or of any of its contents. All the other standard disclaimers also apply.
Free Source Code Version or Revision Control Management Software
- TortoiseSVN
TortoiseSVN is a Windows Subversion client (see elsewhere on this page for Subversion), implemented as a Windows explorer shell control. As such, it has all the usual features of a source code control system, as well as the ability to version folders, rename and delete files, etc. You can check in/out files and folders via the right-click menu, delete files from the revision control system, revert to an old version, check the logs, merge files, check the difference between the current version and an older version, etc, directly from the Windows explorer shell. TortoiseSVN works on Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP (although you need IE 5.5 or later installed on the earlier systems). There is limited support for Windows Vista as well.
- Bazaar-NG
Bazaar-NG is a decentralized revision control system that allows users to commit their own branches of the source code for particular software without requiring special permissions.
- CodeVille
CodeVille is a distributed version control system. Platforms supported include Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. It is written in Python.
- Darcs
Darcs is a revision control system released under the GNU GPL. Platforms supported include Linux, Windows, MacOS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFlyBSD, Solaris, and AIX. It also comes with a CGI script that allows you to browse through your source code repository via the web.
- Monotone
Monotone is a free distributed version control system. Its features include a single-file transactional version store, fully disconnected operation, history-sensitive merging, lightweight branches, integrated code review, third-party testing, cryptographic version naming, client-side RSA certificates, internalization support, and no external dependencies. Supported platforms include Linux, Solaris, Mac OSX, Windows and other Unix systems. It is licensed under the GNU GPL.
- Perforce SCM System
The Perforce SCM System is a software configuration management system that works over TCP/IP. Both the client and server are available free of charge, although the Server only supports two users and two client workspaces in the free version. Numerous operating systems are supported, including Windows, Digital Unix V4.0 (OSF1), FreeBSD, HP-UX, IBM AIX, NetBSD, OpenBSD, QNX, SGI Irix, Solaris, SunOS, Linux (x86, ALPHA, PPC, MIPS, ARM, ia64, AMD64, Darwin, MacOS X, BeOS, IBM AS400, OS/2, Alpha VMS, etc.
- TortoiseCVS
TortoiseCVS is an easy-to-use version control for Windows that allows you to work with CVS files (whether local or on a CVS server). It integrates directly into Windows explorer, and yet allows you to limit the amount of integration so that your system does not become sluggish. You can simply right click on the files or folders you want to manage using version control, select the necessary procedure to apply, and Tortoise CVS will do the necessary. It shares its features for source code management (SCM) with CVS.
- GNU Revision Control System (GNU RCS)
GNU RCS is a revision control system that allows you to manage multiple versions of your source code in a space efficient manner. Instead of storing multiple versions of your sources in entirety, RCS stores only the differences between the versions. You can then use RCS to retrieve different versions of your source code. Although the software is command line driven, you can easily integrate them into the menus of many modern editors for automatic checking in and out. Note that the link above leads to the source code archive. You will have to compile it yourself for your operating system. Precompiled binaries for MSDOS and Windows 95/98/ME can be found in the DJGPP archive (see the Free C/C++ compilers page). If you need help on using this package, there's even a book on this: Applying RCS and SCCS: From Source Control to Project Control (an O'Reilly Nutshell book).
- OpenCM
To quote from their website, "OpenCM is designed as a secure, high-integrity replacement for CVS" (another open source version control system). It does not have the same feature set as CVS, with some omissions as well as some additions. It supports renames, configuration, cryptographic authentication and access control, branches, etc.
- Vesta Configuration Management System
Vesta is a portable SCM system that is able to handle both small and large software projects (eg 10 million source lines). Originally developed at the Compaq/Digital Systems Research Center, and later used by the Compaq Alpha microprocessing group, it was later released by Compaq under the GNU LGPL. It runs on Linux and the Compaq Tru64 Unix on Alpha.
- JEDI Version Control System (formerly FreeVCS)
This version control and project management system can be used on a local computer, across a LAN, WAN, the Internet as well as in mixed environments. It uses a "scalable, TCP/IP based client/server architecture". It offers secure data transfer for transfers over a network or the Internet using a 128 bit Blowfish encryption algorithm. Data is stored in SQL database tables, and may be accessed with other database tools as well. It has an IDE, context sensitive help, Zip compression for the archived files, etc. It is a Windows program, and requires Windows 9x, ME, NT 4.0, 2000.
- GNU Arch Revision Control System
GNU Arch is a revision control system that supports distributed and private repositories, history-sensitive branch merging, the ability to host repositories using HTTP, FTP, SFTP and WebDAV, renames, etc.
- /BriefCase 3 Toolkit
Like other revision control systems, /BriefCase allows you to manage multiple versions of your software. It runs on Unix and Linux systems with the Korn Shell and awk. It uses a client/server model, with a RCS-based central repository.
- CvsGui, WinCVS, MacCVS, gCVS - GUI Front-end for CVS
WinCVS is a frontend for the CVS package (see elsewhere on this page) for Windows, while MacCVS runs on the Macintosh and gCVS on Unix systems. It has a native system look-and-feel, realtime sandbox view with a visual indication of the local state of files, filters to monitor any folder in a flat view, file revision history graphs, support for text, binary and Unicode files, etc. It is distributed under LGPL.
- SourceJammer
This is a source control and versioning system that is written in Java, and as such should be able to run on any system that has a Java virtual machine. You can (of course) check in/check out your sources, managed text and binary files, have multiple users accessing your sources, etc.
- Subversion Version Control
Subversion is a version control system designed to be a "compelling replacement of CVS". Like CVS, it is open source. It includes all of CVS' features, with support for "versioning" directories, file renames, permission changes, and other file meta-data. It supports symbolic links, hard links, internationalization, multi-lingual support, atomic commits, cheap branching and tagging operations, plug-in client-side diff programs, etc. It is natively client/server, unlike CVS.
- PRCS
This is a front end to a set of revision control tools that is supposed to be simpler to use than RCS, SCCS and CVS. At the time of this writing, it relies on GNU RCS to do certain tasks. It is portable to most Unix systems (and clones) including FreeBSD, Linux, SunOS 4, Solaris, HP-UX, IRIX, Ultrix 4, Digital Unix, AIX, Dynix/PTX, and Unixware. Source code is provided.
- Aegis
Aegis supports multiple developers on a project, and includes an intranet web interface. It is designed for repository security, and supports distributed and multiple repositories. It runs on "almost any flavour of Unix." Source code is provided.
- CVS (Concurrent Version System)
CVS provides version control on entire directory trees. It supports client/server operations where developers may be scattered all over the globe. CVS is supported on most Unices and clones, Windows NT/95, OS/2, and VMS. It is probably one of the most widely used free version control systems around and has the advantage that it is not only free, but is open source.
- CSSC
This is another SCCS clone, which provides version control compatible with those managed by SCCS on a number of Unix systems. It is useful if you have source code currently managed under SCCS and need to move it to a system without SCCS.
- ComponentSoftware CS-RCS
This package provides a GUI interface to GNU RCS. It allows you to manage multiple versions of your source code in a space efficient manner. You can access the various commands in the package via either a user-friendly user interface, or the command line (useful for makefiles and other automated systems). It can also be integrated into your IDEs and editors. The program is free for personal use and open source projects. The GNU RCS system is included. This program runs on Win32 systems only.
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