Product management with CVS

[Nicolas . ng . Gauthier]

Hi there,

I have the following situation which I guess is a basic one, and I
wonder which usage of CVS is the most appropriate before to take
actions.

- I manage a product including mainly java files, + some binaries
- many projects are (and will be) 'clients' of this product
- project specific data and files are all gathered in a dedicated
'customization' directory.

I intend to:

- have the product files on a main trunk
- have one branch for each client project, with the 'customization'
directory filled with specific data only in the branch.

Questions:

- is this a right way of using branches ? (I read that branches should
be avoided as much as possible) ?
- am I obliged to name explicitely the main trunk with a branch name ?

Any advice or pointer on this topic will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nicolas.