Python, licenses and CVS

[Peter Hansen]

phil hunt wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Nov 2001 23:42:20 GMT, Hans Nowak <wurmy at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >Then there's a second point: I see that many projects use version
> >control (usually CVS). [...]  Does it have
> >substantial benefits over versioning your files by hand, aside from
> >having a repository through which you can undo changes?
> 
> Depends. If only one person is working on the project, CVS is overkill.
> 
> If lots of people are working on it, it's a good idea.

My opinion: a good idea if only one person is working on it.

Mandatory if more than one work on it.

When I was a wee little hacker, I knew nothing about version
control and kept everything "carefully" arranged in different
folders.  When I wanted to test a new idea, I would make a 
copy of the contents of the folder.  When I wanted to make
a new version, I would zip up (actually, zoo) the files and
use a name based on the date.  Sounds simple, but as time
went by I ended up with literally dozens of folders, subfolders,
zoo'd and zip'd files (and some .arc, .jar, and probably
others), scattered all over the place.  No hope ever of
recovering from this situation.  Now I use cvs (via WinCVS), 
even for little two-file programs I just whip up.  The initial
investment makes it appear overkill, but after that it 
pays you back with every use.

-- 
----------------------
Peter Hansen, P.Eng.
peter at engcorp.com