If you’ve spent enough time around Linux you might have come across an installation process that requires the use of SVN. SVN is subversion which is a version control system based on CVS. What this means is that this tool manages files and directories and keeps track of the changes made to them. A lot of developers use tools like this in order to allow testers and other developers access to the most recent versions of their software. In effect, installing from subversion always guarantees you are installing the most recent code base for your application.

But subversion isn’t always the easiest tool for the end user to get up to speed with. So, with the end user in mind, this article will attempt to explain how subversion can be used in the process of installing software on the Linux operating system.