cvs
Concurrent Versions System for version control
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
cvs [global-options] command [command-options] [arguments]
DESCRIPTION
CVS (Concurrent Versions System) is a version control system that tracks changes to files over time. It enables multiple developers to work on the same codebase, managing merges and maintaining history of all changes.CVS uses a client-server architecture where a central repository stores all versions. Developers checkout working copies, make changes locally, and commit them back. The system handles concurrent modifications through optimistic locking and merge resolution.Operations include checking out code, updating to get others' changes, committing modifications, branching for parallel development, and tagging releases. CVS tracks changes at the file level, storing deltas efficiently.
PARAMETERS
checkout (co)
Get a working copy from the repository.update (up)
Update working copy with repository changes.commit (ci)
Commit changes to the repository.add
Add files to version control.remove (rm)
Remove files from version control.diff
Show differences between versions.log
Show revision history.status
Show working copy status.tag
Add a symbolic tag to revisions.-d CVSROOT
Specify the repository root.-m MESSAGE
Commit message.
INSTALL
CAVEATS
CVS is considered legacy; Git and other distributed VCS are preferred for new projects. It cannot track directory operations well. Atomic commits are not guaranteed across multiple files. Branch and merge operations are more cumbersome than modern systems.
HISTORY
CVS was developed by Dick Grune in 1986 and later enhanced by Brian Berliner. It was the dominant version control system throughout the 1990s, used by major open-source projects. It was largely superseded by Subversion and later Git in the 2000s.