[sldev] Setting up source version control, for beginners?

Dale Mahalko dmahalko at gmail.com
Thu Jul 24 17:27:15 PDT 2008


I am (again) starting to poke at the source and I see what a huge
undertaking it is to edit a raw directory source files. I have to keep
track of what I changed, where I changed it, and what the original
looked like in case I ever want to revert my changes or compare to the
original.

I have absolutely no experience with version control but it looks like
I'm going to need to learn how to use it.

What would be recommended for a beginner, using Windows XP/Vista and
Visual Studio 03/05/08? Hopefully I can use free software since I'm
just doing this as a hobby.

I see this usually operates using a client/server model of access. Is
it enough for me to just use a client, or do I need to also set up my
own local repository server? I assume the client could have some small
server-like abilities of its own for tracking of projects but I have
no idea.



I am of the opinion that the process of setting up for version control
needs to be one of the steps for preparing to contribute to the open
source project. To that end I have created a new article and added it
to the "Ways to Participate" portal:

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Creating_a_version_control_repository

This is really just a stub for now but I am intending to flesh out the
details with any helpful information that experienced programmers may
be able to provide in response to this thread. Please add to it if you
can.

I don't yet know if this article should be part of the regular version
control article since this is intended for beginners. That other
"main" article seems to be intended for experienced programmers who
have already had years of experience working with version control
systems.

Would it be useful to have separate setup instructions for Windows,
Mac, and linux beginners?

- Scalar Tardis / Dale Mahalko


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