Software Configuration Management - Monday lecture:

Introduction and overview

Literature

• Wayne A. Babich - chapters 1, 2, 3 and 5.
  Read these chapters carefully - they contain many words of wisdome.
• Lars Bendix, Otto Vinter: Configuration Management from a Developer's Perspective.
  Read this paper to understand why and how we will use metaphors at tomorrow's exercise session.
• Dart: Configuration Management - the missing link in web engineering, chapter 3.
  Read this chapter and enjoy Susan Dart's grand tour of Configuration Management.
• Leblang: The CM Challenge - Configuration Management that Works.
  Read this paper and appreciate Leblang's bias for making CM practical.

Lecture summary:

• outline and goals of the course
• history of SCM
• what are the problems and goals of SCM
• definition of SCM
• metaphors and workshop

Quote of the day

Yesterday
All those backups seemed a waste of pay
Now my database has gone away
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly
There's not half the files that used to be
And there's a millstone hanging over me
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed
something wrong
What it was I could not say.
Now all my data's gone
And I long for
yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday
The need for backups seemed so far away
I knew my data was here to stay
Now I believe in yesterday.