Open source version control software
Vili Seppänen · 2015
The environment around open source version control software is very opinionated and therefore it is hard to find unbiased comparison between different open source version control software. This Bachelor’s thesis provides background and covers the basics of version control systems. Thesis also categorizes and differentiates the main types of version control systems, by investigating the way they handle repositories and by categorizing them to centralized and distributed. Finally, this thesis provides the unbiased technical comparison of the selected open source version control software and a way to map a suitable one for a software project. Comparison of technical details is collected into tables for easy interpretation and the main differentiators are explained more carefully. Mapping is achieved by pairing the major characteristics of different software projects with the technical features of version control systems and then with version control software that best supports these specific features. Pairing of the software project and the version control software is further refined with technical details that are not covered by the needs of major characteristics of the software project. Selection of the open source version control software is restricted to the four most popular ones.