[kictanet] E-Files management Tool

Mon Jul 7 14:04:08 EAT 2008

...Indeed, even in your scenario, bazaar is the better choice - it can
just as easily be used for version control of *any* kind of document -
although explicit file diff merges will be difficult with some
proprietary formats (but same with svn!!)

One (among many!) advantages is that there is only *one* top level
directory and files created for version control - unlike svn which
creates a version control directory in *every* project directory!

Tony

2008/7/7 wesley kiriinya <kiriinya2000 at yahoo.com>:
> 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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-- 
Tony White