@Malfunction: I read some of that review - he talks a LOT about bugs, but doesnt mention a single one that he saw. He claims VSS cant have multiple developers check-out a file at the same time and that is simply not true.
My shop currently uses VSS and Ive used it for probably 6 or 7 years without EVER having a problem - no sudden crashes, no corrupt databases, nothing. I wont argue that Ive heard others say theyve had problems, but Ive never come across a problem.
As for multiple check-outs, VSS does them pretty well. It provides a very nice merge function (visual of course) which works about 90% of the time. Id say 100%, but for controls on WinForms. For some reason, if two developers have a file checked out and are tweaking controls (adding, removing, or renaming) the merge shows conflicts that must be resolved. For pretty much ALL other code, Ive never had a merge problem. The merge problem with controls can be easily spot-checked before check-in through the "Merge Conflict" window.
This is not to say VSS is not without problems. VSS, like most other source control systems from what Ive heard (dreaded rumors), doesnt work well when you rename or move a file in Visual Studio. Meaning, VSS wont really delete the old file on a rename, it just makes a copy. You have to remember to go delete the file from sourcesafe manually.
Its backup/restore process also takes a LONG time, even for relatively small databases.
The branching/merging feature is nice but doesnt work well if you want to be able to do a "temporary" branch and merge later. The new version of VSS is supposed to help with this, but I havent tried it.
Also, hes right that you can only "see" files are available on your network. It doesnt use a protocol, such as http, to see files on the internet. Ive personally never had a problem with this. It could very well be an issue if you have developers that are far away and you dont provide a VPN connection. Id think youd at least want to setup an HTTPS server (secure web server) if you wanted to expose your companys files over the internet and that seems harder than a VPN, but thats just my simplified view.
As a note about that review Malfunction pointed to - he claims to have reviewed VSS 7.0. At the time of his review (Jan 04) that was likely in an alpha or early beta stage - if it was released at all. He mentions the version numerous times so I dont think it was a typo. The new version of sourcesafe isnt even called SourceSafe - its TeamShare (I think). I would guess he reviewed version 6x from his comments but if so, he hasnt used it THAT extensively. As I mentioned, he claims certain things that are just wrong.
Darn, my "review" was almost as big as his
-ner
