Rating: 
Summary: Two books in one
Review: Sort of two books in one. The chapters alternate between a tutorial on installing, administering and using CVS, and chapters on the principles of open source development. It helped us get our CVS server up and running. I'm finding lots of similarities between open source development and our own distributed development efforts, so the material is interesting and useful.
Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't get past the setup part
Review: The book looks to be well written with lots of details, but I feel the first few introductory pages are insufficiently detailed which prevented me from setting things up. Specifically:* The examples don't say whether your supposed to be in or above the working directory for various cvs commands. The reader is supposed to assume that current directory for this example is the same place as the current directory at the end of the previous example, but nothing says that. (it's obvious once you know). * The overview chapter only talks about importing a whole directory tree. It's not clear how to add a directory or a file to an already imported directory tree. Actually, it's explained 20 pages later, but I didn't find that for a while. * I made a mistake and imported a working dir subdirectory as a top level directory in the central cvs repository. There's no quick overview commands for removing setup mistakes. (Actually, that's shown about 30 pages after the overview). The book doesn't say that importing a subdirectory if you're in the subdirectory, makes it a top level directory in the CVS repository. I'm sure once I understand what's going on, it'll be obvious. But to do my basic directory setup, and cleanup from a mistake, I had to wade through all sorts of "once it's working" text to find what I wanted. Also, in the Removing Directories section, he keeps referring to directories without saying whether he's referring to directories in the user tree or under the CVS repository tree.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't get past the setup part
Review: The book looks to be well written with lots of details, but I feel the first few introductory pages are insufficiently detailed which prevented me from setting things up. Specifically: * The examples don't say whether your supposed to be in or above the working directory for various cvs commands. The reader is supposed to assume that current directory for this example is the same place as the current directory at the end of the previous example, but nothing says that. (it's obvious once you know). * The overview chapter only talks about importing a whole directory tree. It's not clear how to add a directory or a file to an already imported directory tree. Actually, it's explained 20 pages later, but I didn't find that for a while. * I made a mistake and imported a working dir subdirectory as a top level directory in the central cvs repository. There's no quick overview commands for removing setup mistakes. (Actually, that's shown about 30 pages after the overview). The book doesn't say that importing a subdirectory if you're in the subdirectory, makes it a top level directory in the CVS repository. I'm sure once I understand what's going on, it'll be obvious. But to do my basic directory setup, and cleanup from a mistake, I had to wade through all sorts of "once it's working" text to find what I wanted. Also, in the Removing Directories section, he keeps referring to directories without saying whether he's referring to directories in the user tree or under the CVS repository tree.
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD 'CONCURRENT VERSIONS SYSTEM' BOOK
Review: This "Open Source Development with CVS" is a straightforward book, with emphasis on how to use the open-resource Concurrent Versions System (or CVS). It did a good job in explaining the sequences of network-transparent version control system: including how multiple developers could view and edit codes simultaneously.
The book also provided detailed information on how client-server funtions allow continous operation over the internet. Even how CVS maintains a copy of the source code, (together with the record of who initiated the changes) were clearly explained.
The author of this book essentially wrote it for beginners and intermediate CVS users. Its theme is such that anybody who knows the dynamics of 'Mac OS X', or any of the UNIX-based platforms, will feel at home in it. Advanced CVS users, however, would find in it too elementary. It lacked some of the instructive examples, which any non-beginner would be interested in. Still, its overall outlook remains positive.
Rating: 
Summary: Indispensible
Review: This book has 2 aims: 1) To give you all of the knowledge you need to use and administer CVS, and 2) To provide you with insight on the Open Source movement and management of an Open Source project On both accounts, Kurt does a top-notch job. His explanations for (1) were detailed, provided command-line input and output to leave no question as to what's supposed to happen, and the language was familiar and easy to read. It is thus far a head above any other book on CVS I've found. His thoughts on (2) obviously showed a strong familiarity with Open Source combined with a realistic and analytical view that I would liken to combining parts of The Cathedral and the Bazaar with an instruction manual. I highly recommend it. I'd buy it again if I didn't already own it ;-)
Rating:
Summary: The best CVS resource I've found
Review: This book is by far the best and most readable CVS resource I've found. Both new and experienced CVS users will benefit. I'm progressively exposing all of my peers to the book, and the response has unanymously been accolades. For those who value the spirit of the Open Source movement, Fogel provides an objective assessment of the benefits and drawbacks of open source development and provides valuable advice.
Rating: 
Summary: Better resources on-line
Review: This book was a real disappointment. I doesn't cover all the features of CVS and lacks detailed examples. I've found better (and free) documentation on the web. Also, with the release of CVS 1.11, this book is slightly out of date. The authors spend more time covering topics like Open Source development and why you should design for portability instead of showing how you can use CVS to manage a really large software project. While they discuss the mechanics of branching, they don't cover things like branching strategies.
Rating:
Summary: Better resources on-line
Review: This book was a real disappointment. I doesn't cover all the features of CVS and lacks detailed examples. I've found better (and free) documentation on the web. Also, with the release of CVS 1.11, this book is slightly out of date. The authors spend more time covering topics like Open Source development and why you should design for portability instead of showing how you can use CVS to manage a really large software project. While they discuss the mechanics of branching, they don't cover things like branching strategies.
Rating:
Summary: cool book
Review: This is a real cool book...has most of the information one woud need when using cvs..I have been using cvs for quite some time..but still refer to this book once in a while for admin tasks..The coverage of branches, merges and release mgmt, tags etc is a must read..
Rating:
Summary: Real Life Open Source
Review: This is an excellent book about open source development. Chapters on the specifics of CVS are interspersed with chapters on the nuts and bolts of running an open source project. (Fogel adheres to the GPL, under which CVS is released, by making the 'source' of the chapters about CVS available from the 'net). This is the book to read after 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar'.
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