Funny it is based on Electron and it doesnt support Linux. Maybe they think Linux developers only live in terminal, or they just hate it when someone criticises Electron consuming too much memory
GitHub Desktop 1.0
61–70 of 110 posts
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#62Any Mac users (Windows coming soon, apparently?) wanting a native Git GUI client should check out Fork. I've been using it for a few months (switched from one of the various forks of GitX) and love it. It's not open source, but it is in a free beta. It's well designed, simple, and actually feels like a Mac app. git-fork.com
GitKraken is also nice. It's built using Electron so it's going to be hated here, but I've been using it for the past year on a somewhat considerable project and it held fine.
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#63Let me fix the marketing for you: GitHub desktop is designed for our non Linux users. We felt like you weren't comfortable with a command line so we targeted you. Minimum system requirements quad core CPU and 32GB of ram.
Did you even try it? Looks great and sits idle at 0% CPU and 55MB. As for the GUI, many people prefer it, myself included.
I think you missed the additional "Github Desktop Helper" processes that every Electron app spins up. In my case, the app eats 190MB just being there...without even adding a repo or authenticating a user.
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's built with Electron, so it's not just like using a javascript app, you are actually using one. That said, I personally don't have a huge issue with Electron apps on face value - some of them (VSCode, for example) seem to outperform their native counterparts quite handily (in this case, VS - install time, upgrade time, cold start time, warm start time, actual usage). That tells me that the implementation choices…
VSCode doesn't beat SublimeText, Vim, Emacs, or Notepad++. Electron apps might beat other electron apps (VSCode over Atom), but we're still a long sight off from electron apps beating compiled ones in most cases.
I am not so sure about emacs, could be plugins though. Disclaimer: I hate electron apps.
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Making Git more accessible to non-developers (or people not comfortable with a command line) isn't some horrible thing like you're making it out to be.
Serious question...what use is git to a non-developer? I don't think I've ever used it for anything but code. You're not supposed to use it with huge files, so that kind of eliminates the one case I was thinking of (graphic design versioning). Also if someone is a developer, they're only hurting themselves by not making an effort to get comfortable with the command line. Like half of my workflow wouldn't be possible…
Git-LFS lets you use it with large files, and even without Git-LFS you can still use it for smaller projects (it's not efficient at all, but for small teams and small projects you can do it).
Github is making a play to be the "Git for Everyone people". Note they call out that the new client has image diffs (great for... graphic design versioning).
They're forming a brand that could eventually compete with stuff like Perforce on a smaller scale with designers and artists if they can make them feel at home using "GitHub" (Git + creature comforts from GitHub).
And to the developer point, everyone starts somewhere. As a kid Git didn't click until I started using visual clients. And "the command line" is a huge surface to get comfortable with.
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's built with Electron, so it's not just like using a javascript app, you are actually using one. That said, I personally don't have a huge issue with Electron apps on face value - some of them (VSCode, for example) seem to outperform their native counterparts quite handily (in this case, VS - install time, upgrade time, cold start time, warm start time, actual usage). That tells me that the implementation choices…
VSCode doesn't beat SublimeText, Vim, Emacs, or Notepad++. Electron apps might beat other electron apps (VSCode over Atom), but we're still a long sight off from electron apps beating compiled ones in most cases.
Maybe for you.
None of your alternatives have built in JavaScript debugging or multiple projects per workspace.
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#67Any Mac users (Windows coming soon, apparently?) wanting a native Git GUI client should check out Fork. I've been using it for a few months (switched from one of the various forks of GitX) and love it. It's not open source, but it is in a free beta. It's well designed, simple, and actually feels like a Mac app. git-fork.com
I wonder what the pricing is going to look like when it's stable. I generally don't like depending on tools when I don't know the future (like if they'll use a subscription model).
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#68Oh, I always wanted to use 4gb of RAM to add files to Git.
Did you actually tried it and did it use 4GB of RAM for you? I did and it used about 120 MB of RAM, which is not tiny, but not even in the ballpark of your figure. I know hating Electron apps is the new fad, but it would be nice to check the facts before you grab your fork.
Leave it open for a couple of hours and you'll see those 4GB coming up quickly.
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#69I'll add to the Electron hating bandwagon. Not every native app is good and often the UI and design feels crappy. I mean this was the case for decades. But I will still prefer crappy looking performant app over nice looking sluggish electron app. I really really would not want to use a "productivity" type of application that is made in Electron but I also know that many people do not mind. This said we are again in t…
On a related note - are there any frameworks you could use to write native-ish Mac apps without knowing Objective C or Swift?
Re: GitHub Desktop 1.0
#70I’m still using SourceTree, not happily, but everything else I’ve tried is utter shite. It either breaks on big repos, is horribly slow or just a usability train wreck.
Has anyone found something that actually works?