There is a good explanation of the main differences between VCS based on changesets and snapshots in the Martin blog . I will not repeat here.
, . VCS, , , , Subversion, .
VCS ( , git), . DAG (Directized acyclic graph), , -. node , , .
Subversion " " - . 1.4 , , , . 1.5 , , .. (svn: mergeinfo), , . , . , , . , , , .