TheconfigurationmanagementtoolCMThasbeenusedsinceseveralyearsnow,andinquitsdifferentprojects(Virgo,GLAST,LHCb,Auger,Atlas,etc).Thefeaturesofthetoolhavecontinuouslyevolvedaccordingtothegrowingneedsofthedevelopersandtofollowtheincreasingcomplexityofthesoftwarebasesithastoservice,Howevertheoriginalconcepts:readability,simplicity,flexibility,completenesshavebeenpreservedandthesyntanofthecoreelementofthesystem-therequirementsfile-hasbeenalwaysketpbackwardcompatible.MoreandmoreprojectspecificconventionsandneedshavefounrtheirexpressionusingCMT,andsimultaneouslythefocuesetoCMTfeatureshaveevolvedaccordingly,progressivelyraisingimportancetowardslanguagecustomisation,newdocumentgeneratorsproductionofpatterns,packageorganizationandsoftwaredistribution.ThebasicpropertiesoftheCMTtoolkitwillbeshortlypresentedbutthefocusofthediscussionwillbesettotheCMTtoolkitwillbeshortlypresentedbutthefocusofthediscussionwillbesettoptheserecentevolutions,throughtsometypicalexamplesobtainedfromactualprojectsshowingspecificdefinitionsorconventions.Thediscussionisthenextendedtowardsthegeneralizedquestionofthescalabilityinsoftwareproductionandmanagementinthecontextofe.g.Gridtechnologies.TheimpactofusinggenericandhighleveltoolssuchasCMT,whichalreadyoffersseveralsolutions,RPMortheGridtechnologies,inthisrespectwillbepresented.Inparticular,theroleofformalspecificationsforthesoftwareconfigurationappearstobecriticalforquerymechanismsrequiredinmanagementoperationsorinremoteactions.
