[TUHS] SCCS, TeamWare, BitKeeper, and Git

[Steffen Nurpmeso]

Marc Rochkind wrote in
 <CAOkr1zWnwM0xQjxyeco0RPOU1w_WRKRfXShOqbJgQg9V=55=bQ at mail.gmail.com>:
 |On Sat, Dec 14, 2024 at 6:43 PM Greg A. Woods <woods at robohack.ca> wrote:
 |> This is more of an aside, but as a long time and ongoing SCCS user I've
 |> wondered about the vc(1) command included in the SCCS tool suite.
 |>
 |> So I was hoping you (or anyone else reading) might be able to shed some
 |> light on its origins and maybe give, or point to, some examples of how
 |> it was intended to be used, or indeed how it ended up being used.
 |
 |I had completely forgotten about the vc command until I read this post. Vc
 |was a language-independent macro processor mostly concerned with excluding
 |or including lines of text based on the evaluation of logical expressions.
 |
 |Even though "vc" stands for "version control," it has nothing to do with
 |version control as that phrase is used nowadays. In the early 1970s where I
 |worked at Bell Labs, we (or at least I) used the term "release" to refer to
 |the different forms of a file as development proceeded, and "version" to
 |refer to ongoing variants of the file. For example, there might be a
 |version of some program for Southwestern Bell and a different version for
 |New York Telephone. Those two versions were contained in the same identical
 |sets of source files.
 |
 |I just looked again at my 1975 paper and I don't think the word "version"
 |appears anywhere. The terms "release" and "level" appear.
 |
 |I designed vc, but it was implemented by a college student who was with us
 |for the Summer. I credit a woman named Sabrina Feczko in my paper, and I
 |think it was her. As I mentioned, vc was totally standalone so Sabrina
 |didn't have to concern herself with all the squirrely code in the main part
 |of SCCS.
 |
 |Vc disappeared at some point. I don't think it was ever used, as it was

Jörg's (Schillig) SCCS ships with vc.  (His version lost some
limiting restrictions according to announcements, for example line
length.)  I have never used vc myself, so i cannot give examples.
(He worked quite intensively on his SCCS and the v6 file format in
his last year, wrote manuals, created tests etc.  I do not think
his changeset approach was completed.)

 |intended for mainframe programs that were being developed (but not
 |compiled) on PWB/UNIX. For UNIX development, C had its own macro processor.
 ...

--steffen
|
|Der Kragenbaer,                The moon bear,
|der holt sich munter           he cheerfully and one by one
|einen nach dem anderen runter  wa.ks himself off
|(By Robert Gernhardt)
|
|And in Fall, feel "The Dropbear Bard"s ball(s).
|
|The banded bear
|without a care,
|Banged on himself for e'er and e'er
|
|Farewell, dear collar bear