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Dolt is Git for data

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Re: Dolt is Git for data

#131

Post by ralfebert »

Since Wil Shipleys presentation "Git as a Document Format" (AltConf, 2015, [1]) the idea of using git to track data has stuck with me.

Cool to see another approach at this.

From the first look, I miss the representation of data as plain-old-text-files, but I guess that's a little bit in competition with the goal of getting performance for larger data sets.

Anyway, I am wondering, did somebody here try using plain git like a database to track data in a repository?

[1] https://academy.realm.io/posts/altconf-wil-shipley-git-docum...

Re: Dolt is Git for data

#134

Post by unixhero »

irrational wrote: post #82
timdorr wrote: post #7

Any reason or history behind the name? It means "a stupid person", which seems like a bad choice IMHO: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dolt

Git - (Chiefly British Slang) An unpleasant, contemptible, or frustratingly obtuse person. https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=git Dolt - A stupid person; a dunce. https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=dolt

I think both names are apt.

Re: Dolt is Git for data

#135

Post by wainstead »

tinco wrote: post #129
TylerE wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Git succeeded because of Linus. Sure as hell wasn't because of the UX, else Mercurial would have won, or even DARCS. 99.99999% of projects are not the Linux kernel

99.99999% of projects are not the Linux kernel, so how could Git have succeeded because of Linus, other than Linus originating the genius design of it? The Ruby community jumped onto Git even though there was no Github, and Ruby itself didn't use Git. In my opinion it was because Git was the first tool that was superior to SVN in every way. The first time I used Git I swore I would never use SVN again. It was even po…

> so how could Git have succeeded because of Linus, other than Linus originating the genius design of it?

Perhaps that is exactly the point. There was a fair amount of hype and press coverage over Git when it was first unveiled. And it was because Linus wrote it, and wrote it in an unexpectedly short time. And it was on the coattails of the whole Bitkeeper saga.

Re: Dolt is Git for data

#136

Post by ComodoHacker »

TylerE wrote: post #76
philipov wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Git succeeded because it was free, and then business models were able to be built up around the open-source ecosystem after a market evolved naturally. There is a need, but if you go into it trying to build a business from scratch, you're going to have a bad time.

Git succeeded because of Linus. Sure as hell wasn't because of the UX, else Mercurial would have won, or even DARCS. 99.99999% of projects are not the Linux kernel

GP was probably meaning GitHub, not Git.

Re: Dolt is Git for data

#137

Post by Jestar342 »

koonsolo wrote: post #101
greggman3 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mercurial would not have won. Mercurial has since added features, that are not the recommended workflow according to their docs, to have similar branching model to git but the default "as designed" workflow of hg is arguably inferior to git (yes, I know that word will get downvoted). Without git, git's style of branching would likely never have been added to hg and even though it's been added now AFAICT hg people don…

Git branching is not intuitive, because they are not branches but pointers/labels. When you talk about the master branch, you actually talk about the master pointer. The other VCSes have an intuitive concept of branches, because they are in fact branches. I liked Mercurial more than Git, but when BitBucked dropped Mercurial I also switched to Git.

AFAIK (from the rumour mill and not from any kind of reliable source) the `git branch` command was only added as a cargocult from all the SVN users flocking to git and asking "So how do I branch?!". Previous to this, everything was tags and checkouts.

Again, no verifiable source, just water cooler talk with other devs.

Re: Dolt is Git for data

#138

Post by peteforde »

dan00 wrote: post #111
peteforde wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer to that can only be nuanced. On one hand, startups are as exciting as bank heists. You put together an amazing team, do your homework as best you can, then get killed trying to execute your perfect plan. I'm proud of what we built and we all learned a lot the hard way. On the down-side, building a company is emotionally, physically, mentally exhausting. It wasn't really a matter of whether I could pay myse…

> Ultimately, I don't exactly regret it but I certainly wish that we weren't so convincing that we convinced ourselves of a market opportunity that we couldn't access or didn't exist at all. How should you really know this without trying? If you aren't convinced, where should the motivation come from?

Actually, I do have a pretty good answer to this.

Every business has about 100 questions where if you know the answer to those questions, you are quite likely to be successful. The hard part is knowing which questions need to be asked of each business.

To be clear: my co-founders and I were all seasoned, multi-startup people. We had extremely high-calibre investors with finely tuned bullshit meters. In the end, our own pitching skill undid us because I think less-convincing founders would have undergone 25% more scrutiny and that would have required us to demonstrate that we had signed LOIs from 3-5 real customers before starting.

There was a subconscious misdirection around the fact that we didn't actually have anyone beating down our door. We let the excitement for "data", our personalities and our track records carry the moment.

Of course founders have to drink their own Kool-Aid to some extent or they won't make it. But there's real power and value in the customer development mindset. People want this? Prove it.

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