Why The World Actually Does Need Another Source Control Application

Here on this website I have a Tools For Start-ups page that features a number of resources aimed primarily at start-up ISV”s and Micro ISV’s (Independent Software Vendors).  On that page there is a link to the Tortoise source control tool.  It’s published as FOS.  I’m not a great lover of FOS in general, but I do use some FOS tools.  For example I use Joomla! and now exclusively WordPress on every website I own or manage.  My woes with FOS tend to come from a propensity of mine to be concerned over the GNU GPL and even LGPL license.  I’ve read (and worked on) a number of legal documents over the years and the GPL reads to me as an exercise in legal obfuscation – and that’s saying something for software licenses!

Anyway.  I use Tortoise for one single reason.  It stores my source as physical files and folders.  Years of using source control has made me leery if not down right adverse to storing source inside, for example, a database.  It’s Murphy’s law when it comes to storing data of the magnitude of software source code.  For the Micro ISV the available tools are more akin to maintain control of reams of “source” spaghetti than “control”.

But beyond this I actually don’t enjoy using Tortoise that much at all as it doesn’t fit well, in keeping IMHO, with most source control systems, for the needs of a single operator or small software shop. 

Yes – there are other tools like Perforce, Eric Sinks  Source Gear and others.  These are indeed fine tools.  But they tend to be over and above my needs if not indeed making me run through hoops a small ISV honestly can’t justify running through.  Don’t get me wrong here.  I’ve worked (and led) teams using source control.  In teams I’m 100% behind how these tools work.  They are necessary and a God send IMHO.  But for a developer working solo they are over kill if not downright frustrating and time consuming.

But there’s a gap here.  A light footprint GUI based, directory based source control system that plugs into Visual Studio or Borland Delphi etc is to my mind needed.  I’ve looked at dozens of solutions, for many years I used FreeVCS written in Delphi until the fools across at Project Jedi (the “masters” of including commercial code inside their “free” open source libraries it would seem) turned it into an unreliable piece of nonsense.

What’s needed is a tool aimed at the Micro ISV to my mind.  Something that starts at around $100 US dollars.  Took at least 12 months to write (yeah – no 30 Day sprint stuff for this kind of stuff), stores source in physical locations (server or local) and “virtually” checks source in and out.  Yep – you read that right.  Virtually checks it in and out.  Read only directories are a pain in the posterior on local and even local server systems with solo developers in mind.  How many solo developers are going to “accidently” delete their source repository (which for a solo is about the only reason for actually marking a file read only at the operating system level) and if they do (after all the Windows prompts) then they should probably be looking at a different career anyway!

A tool like this would require extensive consultation.

Yep.  You’d have to ask numerous ISV’s about their thoughts.  You’re going to have to harden yourself to many saying another tool like this is not needed.  Some are not going to see the benefit of it being aimed at small shops.  Some are not going to see the benefit of source control at all! 

If you ask on the BOS forums you’ll be crucified for your “stupidity in even considering it.”  Take heart though – most of the anonymous replies you’ll get along these lines are from idiots who’ve either never released a product as ISV’s or if they have it’s a total flop.  The emptiest vessels make the most noise.

You’d have to think “flexible” options to meet the basics required as no two developers are going to want quite the same thing.  I said I believed the tool was needed, I never said it was going to be easy.

Finally – it’d better look shiny and not a relict of 1998.  GUI design has come forward light years since then.  You’re competing against FOS here (in particular), you’re going to get cloned if you pull this off so you’d better raise the bar in as many places you can – GUI is one place where FOS suffers an Epic Fail time and time again (and I love it!!) and it’s not likely to change anytime soon.

It should support Amazon EC3 or Azure as a location for a repositry and archived zips or similar would make an huge amount of sense (safer than databases too) for storage.

Skip using a database.  XML is probably an option worth exploring here IMHO.

Scott Kane

Quote of the day:
The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever. – Anatole France