Veracity is officially half a product!

Wait, what's Veracity?

If you're not a regular follower of Eric's Blog, and you don't regularly check our web site for front-page updates, you might not know that we have something new in the works.

SourceGear Veracity is a new Distributed Version Control System (DVCS) with some lofty goals (the only kind worth pursuing). The "Distributed" part means that a team using Veracity is not tied to a server. Every developer has a copy (or more) of the entire source repository on their own machine. Why? Short answer: Independence and Speed. The Speed comes from you being the only one talking to your very local database. Independence comes from the ease with which you can work independently, up until the moment you decide to merge your code with someone else's.

Oh yeah - we're bringing distributed databases to the party. Your bug tracker? That's local, too. Work on the plane or out of wifi range without a single scribbled note or random text file keeping track of things. And everything merges happily together when you reconnect with the team.

Did I mention that the core product will be open-source? True. With add-ons, soon after, that will make Veracity a great tool for professional teams in need of a DVCS.

And it's truly cross-platform. We build, and use, Veracity daily across Windows, Mac and Linux systems.

So, Should I Be Using Veracity?

Almost certainly not yet. 1.0 would be a good time for that. Stay tuned.

But we're using it, and happily. The version control is already excellent, and improving daily. I'd be very unhappy if you took it away from me.

With v0.5, the bug tracking has hit the crucial "not too painful" usability milestone. And it's already moved past that; by 1.0, it should be an absolute pleasure to use.

I'm Feeling Brave

If you're interested in getting an early look at Veracity, head to sourcegear.com/veracity and download the source. Build instructions can be found there, as well. But don't go using it in production just yet.

You'll definitely want to sign up for the veracity-users mailing list while you're there - it's the place for users to talk back, and where important code updates are announced.

Back to work now, in this wifi-less coffee shop...