A group meeting about git

Tonight's CALUG meeting had a presentation on 'git', the version control package. (I am starting to think of software in terms of "packages". Probably an influence of Linux.)

I like git. I find it easy to use. Yet I think it has a ways to go. A few years ago, I would have thought that git (with its GUI tools) was a sufficient product. Today, after the "tablet revolution", I feel differently.

Tablet computers have raised the bar for a typical application. Now I expect that an application installs quickly, configures itself (except for a user ID, password, and possibly an update frequency), and handles everything through a simple graphical interface. (Not the command line, and not a complicated multi-dialog interface.)

I believe that the folks working on git can improve it and make it "first class".

I will point out that other version control systems have similar challenges. Microsoft's TFS has a good user interface, but requires lots of configuration. Subversion and CVS need bolted-on graphic front ends which work -- more or less -- and they also need a lot of configuring.

Someone will figure out version control, really figure it out, and then we will have the "iPod of version control". I think that git is in the best position to achieve that goal.

Git for version control

I successfully installed and used "git" tonight. (I'm working on a set of web pages for a friend, and I need version control.)

Wow, git makes version control easy. I'm used to the old, heavyweight version control systems (PVCS, SourceSafe, TFS) which require an elaborate install and a more elaborate configuration before one can even begin to use them. I installed git in less than a minute (mostly due to the package manager in Linux) and configured it for my project in less than ten seconds (the one command is "git init" -- with no options or questions).

My old saying was "if your version control system isn't giving you heartburn, you're either doing it wrong or you don't understand version control". With git, I can discard that saying.