The Nilo sources are available via read-only access to remote users, and write access to developers. By using remote CVS, you can get a copy of the latest code whenever you want instead of waiting for periodic snapshots. You'll even be able to check out the release branch(es) since they also live in the CVS repository. You can get cvs from the Cyclic web site.
You can browse the CVS history online via your web browser, using CVSweb. To browse the Nilo source, point your browser at http://www.welcomehome.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/gnu/nilo.
Assuming you have CVS installed on your machine you can check out the Nilo sources with the following sequence of commands:
set CVSROOT in your environment to :pserver:anoncvs@welcomehome.org:/build/cvsroot or alternately add -d :pserver:anoncvs@welcomehome.org:/build/cvsroot in the CVS commands below (place it immediately after cvs -- ie before any other cvs arguments).
Issue the command cvs login. You will be prompted for a password; reply with anoncvs. Issue the command cvs -z 9 co nilo to check out the Nilo sources. Once you've got the repository checked out cvs update will sync your local copy with those in the repository. See the CVS manual for additional information on how to use CVS.
You can check out the nilo-0.5.x release branch with the following command cvs -z 9 co -rnilo_0_50_branch nilo. By changing the "-r" argument above you can check out particular releases or snapshots or the latest snapshot.