Subversion (as a word) is the undermining of authority.
Subversion (also known as svn) is a version control system designed specifically to replace CVS, which is considered to have many deficiencies. Version 1.0 of Subversion (released 24 February, 2004) offers the following features:
- Most current CVS features
- Directories, renames, and file meta-data are versioned
- Commits are truly atomic
- Apache HTTP server as network server, WebDAV/DeltaV for protocol (there is also an independent server process that uses a proprietary protocol over TCP/IP)
- Branching and tagging are cheap (constant time) operations
- Natively client/server, layered library design
- Client/server protocol sends diffs in both directions
- Costs are proportional to change size, not data size
- Efficient handling of binary files
- Parseable output (including XML log output)
- Open Source licensed — "CollabNet/Tigris.org Apache-style license"
Subversion has an IRC channel on irc.freenode.net (#svn).