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We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

blog.gitbutler.com

461–470 of 785 posts

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#461
Huh. I look at what it took to build Git to begin with[1] and have to wonder if the thing that comes after it is really going to be _that much_ better. Git came about because there was a need for it. I feel like GitButler came about because there was a need for funding. Maybe I just need to have my coffee before commenting.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git#History

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#462

Installed GitButler to try it out — and realized it installs malicious Git hooks to take over the git commit workflow: * pre-commit — The malicious one. It intercepted every `git commit` attempt and aborted it with that error message, forcing you to use `but commit` instead. Effectively a commit hijack — no way to commit to your own repo without their tool. * post-checkout — Fired whenever you switched branches. GitB…

Just to clarify (and we do say this when you run `but setup`), the `pre-commit` hook is needed because of the way that we manage commits - we allow for multiple parallel applied branches, which Git cannot do. The way we accomplish this is to maintain a hidden 'megamerge' commit (as JJ would say). All Git commands work fine the way we're doing it except 'git commit', which is not aware of our operating model and will commit on top of our megamerge, which is problematic. So we install pre-commit to protect against getting yourself in a poor situation by using both Git and GitButler interchangeably.

It's not difficult to "escape" - using `git checkout` will tear everything down properly - that's the only task of the `post-checkout` - to determine that you want to go back to using vanilla git commit tooling and remove our shims.

We also don't have a prepare-commit-msg hook - our commit tooling will inject an extra Change-Id header (of the same format and interchangeable with Jujutsu) but that affects nothing that vanilla git cares about.

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who makes things it always confuses me when millions just disappear whenever a company or government contractor makes things. Give me $17M and I'll build a vacuum robot prototype in under 2 years, I can't imagine 10 engineers getting paid $100+k/year can't do it in less time? Tooling is expensive, but not THAT expensive...

Get it approved in a lot of large markets? Deal with ongoing supply issues as suppliers change and you need to maintain your product? Market it? I could keep going on, but making a prototype is the easy part, making a sustaining business out of it is the hard part.

Moving the goalposts so soon.

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#464
post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VCs have no clue. They have money and therefore they are in a dominant position. Everybody around them (professionally) is trying to flatter them and convince them that they should invest in their project. I had a few interactions with VCs (both professional and personal), where I didn't care because I wasn't benefitting from them. One of them was "an expert in CRISPR and blockchain" (WTF?) and... well I didn't need…

In fact, a certain amount of investment in frauds is acceptable and desirable; if you give £10m to 9 frauds who spunk it straight up the wall and to 1 true visionary who builds a unicorn, that's money well spent. Plus of course you can always hope that the fraudster is good enough to sucker the next guy so you can get out. Per Matt Levine, the optimum amount of fraud is non-zero. Tune your detector too loosely or too…

The optimum amount of fraud is non-zero only because detection is expensive as you get close to zero. Getting less fraud needs to always be in mind. When someone gets away with fraud others will try to copy it so anything that has happened before has a much higher value to detect.

But for fraud that hasn't happened yet don't worry about it and hope nobody figures out how to do it.

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#465

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They trust people who look and smell like them or the people they golf or drink with or are part of the same fraternity or tennis club.

I'm not sure what your point is. Of course people who see and observe others on a daily basis in the flesh can determine much better whether they are trustworthy or not. They sure as hell don't think some random person who has no credibility is trustworthy.

The point is the definition of trust is flawed if what you're trying to measure is technical impact and quality or ability to execute?

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#466
post #154

I feel like I really need to learn how to raise money. For $17M, one could probably build a vacuum robot prototype that’ll also clean up all of the kids toys and sort LEGO bricks by colour and size. Parents worldwide would love it. But instead, we get a replacement for Git. And I didn’t even bother to click the link because I’m fine with how Git works. On the list of pain points in my life, “what comes after Git” has…

Money is not given to good ideas (though, it doesn’t hurt). Money is given to friends . If you look at how VC (or really any network) funding circulates, it’s just people who are allowed to enter that circle and money just flows between them constantly. On one hand, you have trusted people who you are willing to give money, on the other hand, this inherently creates a clique. It reminds me how the Bohemian Club’s slo…

It hasn't been organically popular here[0] among people who would be forced to actually use it, so they have to build hype from investors instead.

[0] https://hn.algolia.com/?q=gitbutler

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VC by default are founder friendly in my experience. If you find a greedy VC then most likely they are real VC and often gets attracted when your business is not doing great. Reputation travels in this industry therefore people care.

> VC by default are founder friendly in my experience. Founders are only one stakeholder. There are employees ( I think they fall into that category ), customers, suppliers, and the wider society. It all comes back to why does the company exist - and for which stakeholders. I think that's the point the original author is making. I don't buy the argument that making money in the end is a perfect surrogate for overall…

I dont this wisdom can be applied generically. Lets consider your example, if leader or founder comes across the fact that a river is getting polluted whether it makes profit or not, they will not take that decision as it would impact longer term.

What you are mixing is founder led business vs ceo led business. CEO often takes a short term view, when stakeholders are PE Firm, wall street, short term gains are prioritized. But for, a long term investor, would not incentivize you to take calls that would harm in long run.

What could be wrong is that, you wouldnt know all the consequences and causality of your decisions and thats very human thing in my opinion.

Re: We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

#470
post #154

I feel like I really need to learn how to raise money. For $17M, one could probably build a vacuum robot prototype that’ll also clean up all of the kids toys and sort LEGO bricks by colour and size. Parents worldwide would love it. But instead, we get a replacement for Git. And I didn’t even bother to click the link because I’m fine with how Git works. On the list of pain points in my life, “what comes after Git” has…

Money is not given to good ideas (though, it doesn’t hurt). Money is given to friends . If you look at how VC (or really any network) funding circulates, it’s just people who are allowed to enter that circle and money just flows between them constantly. On one hand, you have trusted people who you are willing to give money, on the other hand, this inherently creates a clique. It reminds me how the Bohemian Club’s slo…

Another thing I've noticed is how when you go on the website for a VC funded B2B startup and look at the customers or testimonies they have listed, most of them will be other B2B startups funded by the same VC. It makes me wonder how much of that market is essentially a few friends standing in a circle and passing a $100 bill around, but on a larger scale.
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