[kictanet] E-Files management Tool

Mon Jul 7 12:17:32 EAT 2008

Note that I was specifically talking about SVN because it can be used to manage ordinary electronic files not just software development related files. So basically even non-software developing organizations can use it to manage their documents.

8~)

--- On Mon, 7/7/08, Tony White <tony.mzungu at gmail.com> wrote:
From: Tony White <tony.mzungu at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] E-Files management Tool
To: kiriinya2000 at yahoo.com
Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Monday, July 7, 2008, 12:00 PM

Even better - Bazaar
http://www.bazaar-vcs.org

to quote:

What is Bazaar?

Bazaar is a distributed version control system that Just Works and
adapts to the workflows you want to use. Bazaar is:

    *  Friendly. Distributed version control doesn't need to be
complex. Bazaar is Version Control for Human Beings. Bazaar has a
natural feel because we focus on usability, particularly task
efficiency.

    *  Smart. Bazaar has perfect support for renaming files AND
directories. This means developers can refactor without holding back
because of fear of merging. It also means you can unleash your
community and merge efficiently even from contributors who are
radically restructuring the tree.

    *  Fast. Almost every open source project can get the advanced
features of Bazaar without slowing down its developers. See our
impressive benchmark results across a wide range of open source
projects.

    *  Lightweight. No dedicated server with Bazaar installed is
needed, just FTP access to a web server. A smart server is available
for those requiring additional performance or security but it is not
required in many cases - Bazaar 1.x over plain http performs well.

    *  Just a tool. Bazaar can play a key role in helping you get from
great idea to running code in the hands of end users. Tools are only
part of the puzzle though so our documentation explicitly sets out to
make you productive, explaining how to use Bazaar effectively,
presenting best practices and insightful tips.

    *  Extensible. Bazaar is designed as a Python API with a plugin
system, so it is easy to embed in your tools and projects and easy to
extend or integrate with existing infrastructure. Integration via XML
is supported by a plugin. Whether you are a single user keeping track
of configuration files or a team of 100s of people on multiple
continents, Bazaar is a great choice.

    *  Embeddable. A key design feature of Bazaar is support from the
ground up for pluggable storage formats. One size does not fit all,
particularly when new application delivery platforms - like the OLPC,
iPod and Amazon's S3 - have different characteristics to traditional
filesystems. If you want intelligent version control embedded into
your application or content management system, Bazaar has the
architecture you need.

    *  Safe. Bazaar is backed by a thriving open source community and
sponsored by Canonical, one of the fastest growing open source
companies around. The development process follows best practices with
code review of all core and community changes. Bazaar has a huge test
suite (over 10,000 tests) that ensures that new features can be
rapidly added without breaking existing ones. We are rapidly building
the world's best VCS, delivering several dozen improvements to our
adopters each and every month.

    *  Free. Bazaar is available under the GPL v2 or later.

Tony

2008/7/7 wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000 at yahoo.com>:
> Ladies, Gentlemen and Geeks,
>
> There is a tool which I think might be very useful in many organizations
> when it comes to file management. It's called SVN which stands for
> SubVersioN. Probably some people in the list may already be using it or
have
> heard about it.
>
> What is it?
> SVN was initially created to assist software developers manage their
source
> code files. So it is popularly used in small to large scale software
> development environments and software repositories. It can also be used to
> manage ordinary electronic files. It's comes with an easy to use
Windows
> application called TortoiseSVN. It's also available for Linux, Unix
family
> of operating systems, etc.
>
> What does it do?
> Have you been in a situtation where:
> 1. More than 1 person can access a file in a server, make changes to it
and
> save it back, then there is a conflict between changes made by different
> people and that conflict has to be resolved cleanly?
> 2. A person makes a change to a file, saves it and overwrites the original
> version, then latter the person finds out that s/he needs the original?
> 3. You are fed up with backing up files by making copies? Not only is it
> tedious but also becomes disorganized as the files increase and leads to
> using large amounts of disk space (If a paragraph in a 100 page document
is
> edited, and one still needs the original then a new copy of the edited
> document has to be saved).
>
> SVN keeps track of document changes, including changes to folders. So
what's
> the big deal?
> SVN alerts anyone sharing a document when there is a conflict between the
> copy they want to save and the one that is already in the server. This
> conflict can arise when someone opened the same document, made changes and
> saved it back without the first person knowing about it. So the first
person
> will be presented with a screen showing the changes made and s/he can
merge
> his/her changes with what the second person did. SVN will keep track of
> document changes by doing a difference analysis on the documents and
storing
> this difference only, instead of a new document. Another great feature is
> the ability to look at historical versions of the document. All in all SVN
> gives you a great way to manage your files be they document, images, etc.
>
> Where can I find it (or where can I start)?
> http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/
>
> Security
> SVN supports SSH and SSL for secure file transfers. You can also restict
> access to folders and files.
>
> Extentions
> If one is building software that requires the SVN functionality to manage
> the software's content then it can be integrated with SVN. For
example: In
> government you have different departments that might need to fill out
> certain parts of a form for an individual. A software system might assist
in
> filling out the form e.g. getting the required fields from a database. If
> all these departments are working on different parts of the form at the
same
> time and they save, the software can use SVN to merge the entire document
> into 1 result, and highlight to the relevant departments where a conflict
in
> entries exist.
>
> It might take some days to get it up and running, but the savings in terms
> of time, money and more importantly peace of mind are well worth it!
>
> And yeah it's free.
>
> B~)
>
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-- 
Tony White

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