Tags

[John Corpening]

Hello,

We use CVS at work to do version control. We considered subversion but decided not to use it for a number of reasons. I was not in the group that reviewed subversion but one big problem that I can see with it is how it handles branches and tags. 

We very often use CVS tags to mark the state of our project at certain key times (most often for our milestone deliverables). Our projects are usually too large for any one person to have more than one copy of it on their machine at a time. This is due in large part to the art assets that we have (we make video games). 

Also, since subversion allows you to make check-ins to what they call a "tag" (i.e. a copy) it is hard to guarantee that the repository is in the state it was in when we tagged it. (Artists have an uncanny knack for not following directions and we have had to take measures to ensure that they don't make check-ins after a lock-down. CVS makes that easy subversion does not).

In a nutshell I'm trying to say that CVS style tags are not "crack" (as your documentation fears). Please consider them. Being able to label the current state of the repository and then moving that label on individual files (for the approved post lock-down check-ins) has proven to be highly beneficial.

Thanks

John Corpening
Developer
Black Ship Games