CVS
Concurrent Versions System (CVS) is a foundational, open-source client-server based version control system that enables multiple developers to work concurrently on the same project, tracking all changes to files and directories over time. It stores all versions of source files in a central…
Key facts
- First appeared
- 1986
- Category
- technology
- Problem solved
- CVS addressed the critical problem of enabling multiple developers to collaborate effectively on the same codebase without overwriting each other's changes, losing work, or manually coordinating file versions. It provided a centralized repository for tracking every change, allowing teams to manage source code history, revert to previous states, and work on parallel development lines (branches) efficiently.
- Platforms
- GNU/Linux, Unix-like operating systems (BSD, Solaris, macOS), Microsoft Windows
Related technologies
Notable users
- GNU Project
- Many academic institutions and small-to-medium enterprises (historically)
- Mozilla (historically, before switching to Mercurial/Git)
- Apache Software Foundation projects (historically, before switching to SVN/Git)
- GNOME Project (historically, before switching to SVN/Git)