CVS peculiarities blocking conversion from MKS RCS

[J F]

Hello all,

I am new to CVS, but have been involved in version control systems for over a 
decade.

My company has been using MKS RCS for nine years. It has served us well, but 
due to shortcomings we need to upgrade to a newer version (too much $$$), or 
switch to a different version control system.

To make the switch smooth, it is preferable to place all our existing archives 
into the new system with all of the existing revision numbers intact. Yes of 
course we use tags for releases, so keeping revision numbers shouldn't matter, 
but for historical reasons we also have records that contain revision numbers.

If this kind of switch is not possible, we could maintain the existing system 
for legacy and just start fresh with a new system, but in that case I'd 
probably be looking closer at other systems such as Subversion.

I am attempting a conversion to CVSNT with that first idea -- keeping all the 
existing revision numbers intact -- and am blocked.

CVS has bizarre rules for branch numbers. Odd numbered branches are for 
'vendors', all branches must have tags, different commands are used to create 
or commit onto branches, etc. What a mess. Our existing MKS RCS system has no 
such rules or restrictions, as branches are treated in the exact same way as 
the main trunk.

The more I look into CVS, the more odd and confusing it gets... I am getting 
turned off... Here's your chance to change that, to convert me! :-)

Is there any way to have complete control over branch revision numbers in CVS? 
Perhaps a write-up somewhere that describes how to work around the CVS 
restrictions?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
--jsf