[I repost this topic (from http://www.cmcrossroads.com/boards/showflat-Number-32485 ) here at svnforum.org because I'm specifically considering Subversion to solve this problem.]
Summary
Can I apply CM tools/technology to manage collections of human-readable content/files? Suggested tools? Would it be better to look in other industry/market areas to better suite my needs?
More details
I'm new to cmcrossroads.com, but have been a software-development manager in a previous life, so I can relate.
My current problem: broad document and content management on per-product/project basis for my company that offers a suite of products.
I specifically want to control *collections* of files for delivery, and also branch files and/or collections as content updates within the document(s). I have been investigating (open-sourced based--more on this later) content-management systems to help with this, and I have not found sufficient control for "collections." (I suspect this CM community will understand what I mean by "collections," as in a set of source-code files to produce one or a set of executables. If not, I outline the scenario below in more detail. In my context, I'm controlling human-readable documents/content instead of source-code files.)
I'm curious: can anyone in the CM community reflect on their thoughts, experience, or knowledge towards applying source-code-CM tools, things that are good at managing "collections" of files, towards managing collections of standard human-readable content files? It seems as if it can work well (and I even used in the past to do so), although supporting systems that provide discussion context, presentation, etc, would need to be in place (for my applications, anyway).
Open-source note: I'm looking at open-source tools for feasibility testing of systems and process for my company right now...because I have no budget to do this right now. I'm also an open-source-system fan in general (I can do a lot with Mysql-php-Apace servers nowadays).
I'm considering testing out Subversion (the apparent successor to CVS) because it appears to be my only free-of-charge tool (other then CVS).
Any other suggestions? Maybe investigate tools from a different class/industry/market? Document repository tools, for example? I don't see any freeware versions of those. I'm thinking on the order of Documentum without all the fancy-dancy workflow control (although that's nice).
-Matt
ps: Example scenario, as promised:
Example scenario for file "collections"
My company produces highly-technical products that have a lot of associated files: user manual, firmware & software updates, memos, tech tips, training materials, rich-media presentations, exam content (I'm using separate LMS--learning management systems), etc etc. I want to deliver these files and content via a CMS portal...and I also see bona fide requirements where I need to deliver the file sets separate from the portal (like in a big .zip file indexed by an index.html or something), because resellers/OEMs need to "take the files with them to do their own thing."
Hence I not only have a per-file/document-management business problems, but a *collection"-of-files problem. I suspect the "collection" part of this may present unique challenges. eg, I can't just always update per-file content whenever I want, because often (depending on the delivery/usage context) the files/content needs to be "synchronized". eg, new software may not be compatible with existing firmware; the user manual may need to be updated with a code update; release notes need to come with new software; the training material may not be in line with the tech tips/user manual....and on and on and on.
There may be times when I need to deliver a single-file-update with no fuss and no muss. But there will be many business requirements surrounding the control of the entire "package" delivery.
Fortunately, I highly doubt that my business problems are very unique, for I see this issue with most any software-and-hardware combo product I see on the market (case in point: desktop/laptop computers).
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