What is KKVCS DOS Version Control?

KKVCS DOS Version Control is version control software for MS-DOS and FreeDOS.

Why use version control for DOS?

As a vintage computing enthusiast and hobbyist programmer, although I could develop software for my vintage machines on a modern computer with modern compilers and modern editors and modern version control software, to me, a big part of the fun is to actually use my vintage computers. For this project, that computer is a Hyundai Super286C that runs MS-DOS 5.0.

Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, there is no DOS port for git, subversion, mercurial, etc. I have also not found one for CVS. In my extensive search online, I have only found a mention of a DOS port being available for RCS, a predecessor of CVS. Suffice to say, there appears to be no version control software for DOS and certainly not any that is actively maintained and free to use.

And that's where KKVCS DOS Version Control comes in.

But why not just copy your code from the DOS machine to a modern computer?

Here is a list of reasons and use cases that may answer that question:

• The DOS machine is not connected to a network, perhaps due to security restrictions.

• Security restrictions prevent data from being exported from the DOS machine, either absolutely or without having to fill out a ton of paperwork.

• Extra characters get accidentally added in the back and forth between the DOS machine and the modern machine (and dos2unix/unix2dos does not seem to be able to remove them cleanly, which happened to me).

• You just don't feel like having to go through the extra effort of doing so.

• Or like me, you are a vintage computing enthusiast and want to maintain your work on the DOS machine for the vintage experience.