In search of a version control system

Hi,

My thesis supervisor asked me to find a VCS. He wants to version-controlled all his projects.

The needs are not that big, that is to say it is academic and research projects. A project can have dozens of Word, PDF and program files (Stata do-files, SAS programs, SPPS syntaxe files and R scripts) and their corresponding log files.

Like many people, I hesitate between Git and Subversion. I like the idea of distributed version control system. But is that such a system eliminates the need for a real server ? Can we just set up a repository on one of the computers in our workplace and give access to that repository via a local connection or via a remote VPN connection ? 

We do not need to work at the same time on a file. The work is not so intense. So, is it possible to lock a file while someone work on it ?

Thanks, 

François Maurice Candidat à la maîtrise Département de sociologie Université de Montréal