"Two of the great joys of Linux are plain-text configuration files and scripting--combined, they are easy to read, edit, reproduce, deploy and automate. I especially like the ability to create multiple configurations for a program, such as a mail server or backup script, and easily call up different configs for testing.
"Every sysadmin develops their own tips and tricks and particular ways of doing things. Scripts and configuration files change and evolve over time. The wise sysadmin keeps backup copies of everything--you never know when you're going to want to roll back to that script you wrote a year ago. One way is to simply keep copies of everything. CVS (concurrent version system) saves considerable storage space by recording and tracking only changes, and it never forgets anything.
"CVS is widely used to manage software development projects. It keeps a complete history of changes, and who made them. It manages the concurrent editing of files by multiple authors, and controls access. It uses a central repository, and also allows users to have their own personal repositories. It is not a build system, but a way to track and record changes..."
