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Apache Subversion vs. Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Apache Subversion

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/AApache Subversion is a version control option that is free to download and open source under the Apache 2.0 license.N/A

    Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AVisual SourceSafe is a discontinued source control software offering, from Microsoft.N/A
    Pricing
    Apache SubversionMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Apache SubversionMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Apache SubversionMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Apache
    Chose Apache Subversion
    We used Visual SourceSafe before SVN many years ago and we chose SVN at that time mainly because it allowed us to do collaborative work on the same source code. It also had improved conflict resolution when doing code merges, blaming changes etc, which improved the speed of …
    Incentivized
    Chose Apache Subversion
    After Microsoft Visual SourceSafe was discontinued, we chose Subversion and it was a great choice. We were able to migrate to Apache Subversion very quickly and easily and benefited immediately from its non-locking workflow (SourceSafe required users to "lock" the file when …
    Incentivized
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Microsoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    We selected Microsoft Visual SourceSafe because at the time none of these other products were out there. Now we are trying to migrate all our legacy code from Visual SourceSafe to Azure DevOps. Unfortunately we don't have a value proposition for some of the older products so …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Apache SubversionMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    GitHub
    Score9.2 out of 10
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    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Git
    Score10 out of 10
    Git
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Perforce P4
    Score7.5 out of 10
    Perforce P4
    Score7.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Apache SubversionMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    6.6
    (10 ratings)
    1.0
    (4 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    3.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    3.8
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.2
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Apache SubversionMicrosoft Visual SourceSafe (Discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Apache
    It's a relatively simple version control system so it works great for an individual or small team (less than 10 people). But if you have a medium to large team, especially one with members distributed over a large geographic area, or one where individuals need to be able to work "offline" without access to a central server, Apache Subversion will likely not be the best choice.
    Also, if you're maintaining an open-source project where outside people will be interacting with your code repository, git is probably a better choice because it's becoming the de-facto standard these days and what most developers are familiar with.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I would not recommend Visual SourceSafe to anyone out there as there are so many better, more modern solutions that do what it does and much more. Visual SourceSafe should be retired in most cases.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Apache
    • Revision control done properly - you have end to end visibility of all changes in the project.
    • Conflict resolution - visually highlighting the differences helps to track down the problem.
    • Being open source and very popular.
    • We are using SVN hosted in our network - it is very stable, we had almost zero downtime in 4 years.
    • Rollbacks are made simple and easy to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • At this point in its lifecycle there are not many things VSS does well
    • Its main strength would be its ability to be self contained on a local drive
    • It is a basic Code repository
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Apache
    • Distributed development - I've never worked in an environment where distributed development (developers widely scattered geographically) was a factor, but that's why git exists.
    • Merging - Merging of code from one branch to another can be painful, especially if it's not done frequently. (On the other hand, doing merges is one of the reasons I get a nice salary, so I can't complain too much!)
    • Acceptance - Let's face it, git is what "all the cool kids are using." If you've got a bunch of developers fresh out of school, they'll probably know git and not Subversion.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • The system stability could be improved. Often we get file corrupted errors.
    • The User Interface is not modern and not user-friendly.
    • Concurrent check-outs could be added, allowing more people to work on the same file at the same time.
    • Add conflict resolution, files comparison, blame file, features that any modern source control program should have.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Apache
    While there are interesting alternatives, such a GIT, Subversion has been a breath of fresh air compared to its predecessors like CVS or Microsoft Source Safe (now called Team Foundation Server). Its ease of use and high adoption rate is going to keep me using this product for years to come.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Apache
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    The current status of Visual SourceSafe is not usable. There are many things that are just so out of the date that it should be retired and not looked at any longer. If you have an existing application that is stored in it, I'd consider migrating it to a modern tool.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Apache
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    It's a Microsoft product so the customer support is great. The program has been around a long time so there are plenty of places on line to get assistance. Also almost any development shop you go to will have at least one developer who has used this product extensively in their career.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Apache
    Git has become the new standard of version control, with its support for distributed design. As a tool to manage and control versions, Subversion does it well, but Git is the future.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Apache
    • Subversion helps us feel secure in maintaining access to all of our product code, both current and historical.
    • Being free and open source makes it an even better "investment".
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • When we started using it, it allowed us to do source code versioning and store the code in a centralized location and not locally.
    • We are using it for very few projects with few developers that still maintain those applications and do not have time to merge the source code to Git.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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