Install subversion repositories in my GoDaddy Shared hosting account

Question

I am a lone programmer working on many .Net projects. I work alone and I didn't used version control till now. Just recently I learned the benefits of using version control. As I have three machines I work on, keeping a sync version of a project sometimes proves to be too much. So, now I am planning to use subversion as my version control server.

Having said that, I read in many threads, blogs etc about the benefits of using version control for a single developer. I agree with most of them but one thing most of them didn't discussed was, how to use SVN without actually depending on one of your particular system to be the server. The reason I want to do this because all my systems are almost never in "always on" condition. So if I host my repositories in my main desktop, I might not be able to work on my laptop if my desktop is turned off (or am I missing something here?)

Thats why, I want to know that can I host my subversion repositories in my GoDaddy shared hosting account and access them from the three computers I have?

Or alternatively, are there any free (and fast) online svn repositories I can use? I am trying not to use any gui clients for now as I want to clear my basics first with svn, but later I am planning to use TortoiseSVN as my client.

Answer 1

First, GoDaddy does not allow for Subversion to be installed. It's a seperate service that runs to provide a web-like interface - not a hosting account.

With that said, there are a few free versions still out there.

I vote for CodePlex as it's free, and uses Subversion (through the TFS hook), as well as giving you forums, documentation areas, etc.:

http://www.codeplex.com

Additionally, Google Code is also subversion-based (I kind of like the CodePlex community better though):

http://code.google.com

If you want something more private, I recommend Unfuddle as they have a free version. Just don't check in big files.

http://www.unfuddle.com

Another private one is Project Locker:

http://www.projectlocker.com

Lastly, I highly recommend picking up and reading a Subversion book on practical uses of Subverison, organizating your multiple projects, and proper branch/merge management.

Version control with SubVersion

You can also read it for free here: http://svnbook.red-bean.com/ But, it's a very long dry read. I highly recommend picking up the book to thumb through down the road.

• Updated 2010-12-06: Added CodePlex now that they have SubVersion.
• Updated 2017-06-05: Google Code shut down in 2016 and Microsoft CodePlex is shutting down in 2017. Those were the two major companies sponsoring SVN; and, they both have the same reason for the shutdown: https://GitHub.com which is Git based.

Answer 2

I'm not sure about GoDaddy, but you shouldn't have any issues developing in a disconnected mode with Subversion. As for other hosts, you could try ProjectLocker.