Appendix B. Subversion for CVS Users

Table of Contents

Revision Numbers Are Different Now
Directory Versions
More Disconnected Operations
Distinction Between Status and Update
Status
Update
Branches and Tags
Metadata Properties
Conflict Resolution
Binary Files and Translation
Versioned Modules
Authentication
Converting a Repository from CVS to Subversion

This appendix is a guide for CVS users new to Subversion. It's essentially a list of differences between the two systems as “viewed from 10,000 feet”. For each section, we provide backreferences to relevant chapters when possible.

Although the goal of Subversion is to take over the current and future CVS user base, some new features and design changes were required to fix certain “broken” behaviors that CVS had. This means that, as a CVS user, you may need to break habits—ones that you forgot were odd to begin with.