Re: Open source game design: What IS an RCS server?

[Pierre Phaneuf <pp@ludusdesign.com>]

Steve Baker wrote:

> When two people have been off patching the same file, the first person to
> check in the change simply replaces the current file - the second person
> has to merge in their changes.  If the changes don't overlap, CVS lets
> you do this automatically (although that's rather dangerous) - if they
> do then you have to resolve the changes manually.

Actually, it *always* do this automatically. The idea is that you should
never commit without doing an update and confirming that it still works.
As good as CVS is, very few things are a good replacement for the brain!
:-)

> If someone is planning a major change to a module, and he doesn't tell
> everyone in advance, then he may well find that a gazillion small changes
> have been made in the meantime - and be faced with a hard 'merge' when he
> submits his master-work.  However, that's why we have mailing lists and
> why we have to communicate a lot.

As is mentioned at the beginning of the CVS manual, CVS isn't a
replacement for communication and good teamwork!

-- 
Pierre Phaneuf
http://ludusdesign.com/