Choosing a Distributed Version Control System
The year of 2007 is looking to be the beginning of the Golden Age of Version Control Systems. The DVCs became more stable and got much better documentation. Over the next year, I think we’ll see a lot of activity in the VCS area. If the progress of Git, Mercurial, and Bazaar in the last twelve months is any indication, they’ll be even further ahead of Subversion in another twelve months.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the progress in these new systems and with how people seem to be discovering and adopting them. Subversion works, but it’s frustrating. DVCS—and Git’s content tracking, in my opinion—aren’t actually necessary in many cases, but they’re seductive because the design is so beautiful. It’s a bit like choosing a Mac or an iPhone. And just as Windows is the new Classic, Git can play well with other version control systems.
Update: Why I Chose Mercurial.
