Best open source alternative for MS Visual Source Safe? [closed]

Question

We are leaving VSS for TFS or any other alternatives. I'm the one who persists to go for an open source alternative like SVN. Now I'm searching for a good open source Version Control regarding following aspects:

1. We are in love with open source movement and cross-platform.
2. Could it be possible to use it with Mono, SharpDevelop and Express editions of VS instead of Visual Studio itself?
3. What about backup?
4. Is it integrated with VS without serious problems?
5. Any API or command prompt access?

Please notice I've read following previous texts about it but still need more help:

VSS or SVN for a .Net Project?

TFS vs open source alternatives?

How to convince a company to switch their Source Control

Answer 1

We left the hell that is VSS to go to VisualSVN and have never looked back.

It's not free (but not expensive), uses Open Source components, is incredibly well integrated to Visual Studio, has a decent community and given the quality/support, we feel it's great value.

EDIT: If you're developing Open Source projects, subject to some additional straightforward criteria you can get an Open Source license of VisualSVN without charge here.

Answer 2

You really can't go wrong with SVN, Mercurial or Git. They each offer their own sets of advantages and disadvantages.

SVN has been around for a long time therefore it is widely supported. You'll find a plethora of clients for SVN. Among others, TortoiseSVN is free and rock solid. Backing up a SVN repository is as simple as backing up a file directory.

Mercurial (like Git) is a distributed SCM that by default doesn't have a central repository like SVN (though you can still have one). The advantage of a distributed SCM is that one can be complete disconnected from the network and still be able to commit code changes. The flip side of this advantage is that it allows developers to not sync up with the main repository for days before having to do a huge merge (you counter this with good developer self-discipline) . Another advantage of Mercurial is that you can push and pull updates from your peer without disturbing the main repository. A common scenario is when 2 developers are working together on a story and they can push/pull from each other while the story is work in progress. Then when the entire story is complete, they can then push to the main repository. My favorite Mercurial client is TortoiseHg and I highly recommend Mercurial: The Definitive Guide by Bryan O'Sullivan. Backing up a Mercurial repository is also as simple as backing up a file directory. If you don't want to worry about maintaining your own Mercurial repository, check out the new Mercurial hosting service offered by FogCreek: Kiln