Extending Open Source Tools

Development shops want their software configuration management tools to be flexible and nimble. Some developers and development teams are gravitating toward a few open source software tools—particularly Subversion and its predecessor CVS—for tracking and managing versions of files, directories and metadata. A robust community and support infrastructure has developed for these tools.

Tools like Subversion are usually available for free download, so the primary initial costs associated with them are optional support programs. Focusing on a singular task such as just version control can mean the tools are lightweight in terms of use, but they often lack sophisticated features that may be necessary or beneficial to development organizations.