Concurrent Versions System

What Concurrent Versions System is

Concurrent Versions System (CVS) is a free, self-hosted version control system for recording the history of source files and documents. It stores versions as differences in a single file to reduce storage use. Developers work in separate directories, and CVS merges their changes when they finish. In its client/server model, a central server keeps version history while client machines hold working copies. A network connection is needed for checkins and updates, but local editing and file-version manipulation can continue without one. CVS supports branching, merging, sparse checkout, and user-supplied scripts for logging operations or enforcing site policies. The manual describes SSH, password authentication, GSSAPI, and Kerberos for remote access. It also warns that pserver passwords are trivially encoded and transmitted in that encoding. CVS does not provide an automated testing program or built-in process model. A concurrent update may receive only some changes from another multi-file commit. Windows, Unix, and Linux are listed among its platforms.