$ mkdir cvs; cd cvs
$ tar xvfz tar.gz
$ CVSROOT=$PWD
$ export CVSROOT
$ cd /tmp
$ mkdir test
$ cd test
$ cvs history # revel in past glory
$ cvs checkout project # try a top-level dir from $CVSROOT, it's probably a module name
$ cd project
$ cvs log # someone typed in all those log messages