[documentation] A would-be developer requests "CVS for Dummies"

[Thom]

I could use this CVS tutorial also Laura!   Though I keep hearing about this
subversive sounding SVN thing too.  

 

Hehehe, I hate remembering that far back.to think that some of us used to
connect to our computers using DECwriters at 300 baud makes me wonder why I
ever wanted to take a computer science course in the first place:-)   Oh
wait, I didn't use it for a CS course. I used it to play DECWAR!  We used
punch cards for our programming.

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/la36.html

http://home.austin.rr.com/hsnewman/decwar.htm

 

 

 

 

Thom K in CA

 

--------------------------------------------

www.ThisIsWhatDemocracyLooksLike.com

 

 

 

  _____  

From: documentation-bounces at drupal.org
[mailto:documentation-bounces at drupal.org] On Behalf Of Laura Scott
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 4:26 PM
To: A list for documentation writers
Subject: [documentation] A would-be developer requests "CVS for Dummies"

 

I try to be as much a part of the Drupal community as I can. I've been
contributing php snippets, offering support comments in the forums and
filing issues whenever I discover them. I've commented on handbook pages to
clarify things or answer questions when I could. 

Now I'd really like to get my CVS account working so that I can actually
contribute themes. However, CVS completely mystifies me.

My story: Before my iMac crashed, I managed to follow the handbook
instructions for CVL and log in and download about 10% of the CVS projects
before it all just stopped. (I got projects from A-C.) I had no idea what
went wrong. And while I could point my BBEdit to the local CVS folder I had
set up, I had no idea how it all integrated.

Now, with the iMac in the shop getting a brain transplant, I'm on my
powerbook, starting over. I have OSX Tiger. I have CVL installed. I'm not
sure about the developer tools requirements, but I can figure that out.

Back to the point: But what I need -- and what I am asking for here with
great humility and earnestness -- is a good, basic overview of what the hell
CVS is and how it works. I don't want just nuts-and-bolts, though that would
help. But what I need is the big picture -- a flow chart, an introduction to
the concepts that makes it all fit together.

Aside: I never understood geometry until I took calculus, where my professor
took us through the circle diagrams of what sine, cosine and tangent were
about. Suddenly all the "rules of thumb" added up and it made sense. This is
the kind of big picture I'm asking for here.

The request: If someone who feels up to the task could devote an hour or two
to composing a good, basic overview of CVS and its concepts, I believe not
only would I benefit, but many many people who have been blocked by the CVS
requirement, and thus are not contributing as much as they might, could
benefit as well.

And thus the Drupal development community would benefit.

Not all of us took computer programming when CVS existed. (For me, I took
computer programming when printers smaller than washing machines were
dot-matrix, when it was when it was a radical act to write a paper on
computer -- the university mainframe where you had to code all your page
formatting in-line like hand-coding html today. I won't volunteer a year,
thank you.) Just a good clear picture that could help the grokking of how
CVS works would be immensely helpful to me and, I suspect, many others.

A humble suggestion/request from Laura. Thank you.

-- 
Laura Scott
laura at pingv.com
pingVision <http://pingv.com> 
rare pattern <http://rarepattern.com> 

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