Concurrent Versions System

Spec sheet

Purpose

CVS is a version control system for recording the history of source files and documents.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Security

The manual warns that pserver passwords are trivially encoded and transmitted in the same encoding, which does not prevent an attacker from obtaining them.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Support

The manual lists the info-cvs mailing list for general CVS discussion and bug-cvs for bug reports.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Founded

1986Read 28 Sep 2026 · cvs.nongnu.org

Authentication

The manual describes remote access methods including SSH, password authentication, GSSAPI, and Kerberos.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Branching and merging

The manual documents branching and merging as CVS capabilities.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Central repository

Client/server CVS keeps version history on a central server and gives client machines copies of the files developers are working on.Read 7 Oct 2026 · cvs.nongnu.org

Concurrency limitation

A concurrent update can receive only some of the changes from another multi-file commit.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Download

The GNU FTP archive lists CVS source archives, including version 1.12.13a.Read 7 Oct 2026 · ftp.gnu.org

History storage

CVS stores file versions as differences in a single file to reduce storage use.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Network requirement

The network connection must be available for operations such as checkins and updates, but not for editing or manipulating local file versions.Read 7 Oct 2026 · cvs.nongnu.org

Notable limitation

CVS does not provide an automated testing program or a built-in process model.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Policy scripts

CVS can run user-supplied scripts to log operations or enforce site-specific policies.Read 7 Oct 2026 · cvs.nongnu.org

Team workflow

Each developer works in a separate directory, and CVS merges work when developers are done.Read 7 Oct 2026 · gnu.org

Plans and prices

Every Concurrent Versions System plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• Version Control Software#19 of 628.0
• Source Code Management#17 of 308.0
• Game Version Control Software#20 of 287.9