O'Reilly Open Source Convention - August 1-5, 2005

Session
Switching from CVS to Subversion: Case Studies in Migrating Your Team to a New Tool
Brian W. Fitzpatrick, Software Engineer, Google, Inc.

Track: Linux
Date: Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005
Time: 1:45pm - 2:30pm
Location: Portland 255
Even before Subversion reached 1.0 last year, a trickle of open source projects migrated from CVS to Subversion. Recently, that trickle has become a geyser as the Apache Software Foundation, Samba, and many others have taken the Subversion plunge.

Those leading the way in this migration have discovered that it's easy to get lost in the technical details of converting to a new tool, especially one as important as a version control system, while neglecting the needs of the team using the tool.

Converting your repository itself is only a small part of the process of converting your team to Subversion. Without careful planning, preparation, education, and managing expectations, you could wind up losing productivity, your team's trust, or--if you really foul it up--your job.

This talk reviews best practices for migrating to Subversion based on case studies of teams that have already made the switch.