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Is there anything that has features of TFS(Like Source Control, Debug, Testing,...) that we can use in a workgroup with a small team(say 1-6 persons)?

BTW: we are using VS 2008 Team Suit

dove
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mrtaikandi
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6 Answers6

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Do you particularly need it all in one package? Various open source projects only do one thing, but integrate nicely with others. For instance:

Jon Skeet
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  • Using all of them in a single package is much easier. – mrtaikandi Nov 06 '08 at 09:17
  • Open source does not mean free. Its usually harder to configure and setup, integrates poorly, and time-consuming to maintain. TFS is free for 5 users and also is Visual Studio Online. – MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood Jan 16 '15 at 17:41
  • @MrHinsh: I don't think it was in 2008. And I wouldn't assume it's easier to install and configure commercial software, either. Hopefully it's better now, but last time I installed TFS it was a horrible experience. – Jon Skeet Jan 16 '15 at 18:06
  • @MrHinsh: You don't have to install with GitHub, BitBucket etc either, do you? (And heck, there's a Git client in Visual Studio...) – Jon Skeet Jan 16 '15 at 19:14
  • and there is Git in VSO, so why limit myself to mear GitHub or Bitbucket? http://nakedalm.com/why-should-i-use-visual-studio-alm-whether-tfs-or-vso/ – MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood Jan 16 '15 at 19:22
  • @MrHinsh: You seem to be shifting your argument. You were arguing against using open source options because they were hard to set up. With GitHub - and yes, VSO - that issue goes away. So why would I want to use TFS (as you were advocating) rather than one of the far-more-commonly used tools such as Git or Mercurial? My experiences with TFS have been almost entirely negative - and talking to various people over the years, that doesn't sound uncommon. – Jon Skeet Jan 16 '15 at 19:25
  • TFS and Git are not an apples to apples comparison. TFS does way more than Git. Do you maybe mean TFVC vs Git? Because I create all my team projects with Git rather than TFVC. But I get enterprise grade Git – MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood Jan 16 '15 at 19:46
  • @MrHinsh: I really don't see what you're trying to accomplish in this discussion, on a question over 6 years old which wouldn't even stay open on SO these days (and which I've now voted to close, with an eye to deleting). The question was asking for alternatives to TFS, which I provided options for. If you want to provide your own answer (which I doubt many people will read). What benefit do you think you're providing here? – Jon Skeet Jan 16 '15 at 19:59
  • Not trying to accomplish anything... I got a notification of a reply and am replying... If noone cares then don't reply – MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood Jan 16 '15 at 20:04
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Use the Team foundation workgroup edition but be warned. Under no circumstances think of source safe.

There are many other very good alternatives for all you seek. To many to mention, so will leave particular recommendations to others.

dove
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  • Where can I find Workgroup edition? I googled for about 1 hours but didn't find anything. – mrtaikandi Nov 06 '08 at 09:20
  • Team Suite should come with Team Foundation Server Workgroup edition. Check your DVDs or download from MSDN. You'll need to install Team Explorer from the TFS DVD on each client workstation as well. TFS workgroup edition is good for up to 5 developers. – tvanfosson Nov 06 '08 at 09:25
  • Is there anything else that I should install to use it completely? – mrtaikandi Nov 06 '08 at 09:40
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SourceGear Fortress? Encompassing SourceGear Vault, work item / bug tracking, and integration with CruiseControl for build.

Is there something in particular you dislike about TFS? Is there a particulare feature you feel is missing? If you are using Team Suite, why not use TFS (even workgroup edition)?

Barry-Jon
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If you want to go with OpenSource, use CodePlex. So, you'll get TFS with all features for free :) If not, please check TFS Wiki page for alternatives.

Tamir
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Team Foundation Server is FREE if you have an MSDN licence. Even if you don't it is only $500 for a retail licence that allows 5 users.

if you have paied for Team Suit (now Visual Studio Ultimate) then you loose one hell of a lot of features if you do not use TFS.

MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood
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I was in the same boat as you. I even asked a question about it here at SO. We had the budget for TFS, and even the hardware to put it on, but with our team only being 5 people, going through the work to get TFS up and running didn't seem worth it. There was also a high training cost for a TFS administrator to take care of it all. Don't get me wrong: I love TFS, but for this team it was like using the space shuttle to cross the street.

As my question says, I looked at the Subversion stack. I liked it a lot. But at the end of the day, my customer wanted something that was vendor-supported.

We went with SourceGear Fortress. It has the familiarity of SourceSafe but with the heavy-duty SCM features found in SVN and TFS. It was also significantly cheaper than TFS. In the end, Fortress was the balance my team needed.

I set up Fortress to use CruiseControl.NET for integrated builds, moved our VSS repository with the import tool, and was up and running in about a day.

I will admit that I miss TFS and wish I had some of its features, like the very tight integration with Visual Studio (Fortress has VSS style integration; bug- and issue-tracking are web-based).

Community
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Robert S.
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