Github turns five • Hacker News Board

Re: Github turns five

#31

Post by InclinedPlane » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:20 AM UTC

mserdarsanli wrote: post #29

InclinedPlane wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Git is like linux in... 1996 maybe. The underlying technology is pretty awesome, but it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of usability. Git is enormously powerful, but it has some key weak spots that can lead to intense frustration, and it doesn't exactly guide users into using it in the best way possible.

I'm to young to know about linux in 1996, but linux in 2013 also seems to fit what you describe.

Imagine linux back in an age before it was possible to search the web for answers to problems you run into. In an age when some of the most popular linux distros not only didn't have advanced install-on-demand internet based package management (e.g. debian) but may not have had any package management at all. Also in an age when plug-and-play was still more a theory than a reality and when hardware support in linux was a cruel joke.

Add to that a dizzying array of competing distros and hardware so slow it usually took hours to do a kernel compile. It was a frustrating time for computing in general and deciding to try using linux was a fairly daring venture certain to result in hours upon hours of frustration.

Re: Github turns five

#32

Post by thelibrarian » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:28 AM UTC

eridius wrote: post #24

jeremymcanally wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

January 29, 2008. User id 95. :)

95? Wow. I joined almost a month later (Feb 23, 2008) and got #714.

There must have been a rush right around that time - I joined Feb 17 and got #332.

Re: Github turns five

#33

Post by marssaxman » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:36 AM UTC

jmathai wrote: post #30

m_mueller wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: If it's not for GitHub's community features that get enabled through git's decentralized repository, what does git do for you more than a local SVN server?

Honest response: If you're coming from a Subversion background (like I did) then wrapping your head around the possibilities of git takes a long time. You almost have to unlearn everything you knew about version control. If you're not frequently using local branches, your stash, `git add --patch`, git bisect or git rebase then you're really missing out. Everyone's git workflow is different which makes it even harder…

Wrapping your head around git takes a long time regardless of your background, because git's interface is incoherent and requires you to understand internal details of its implementation to a degree I haven't seen in a commonly used dev tool since the '80s.

Re: Github turns five

#34

Post by mhartl » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:38 AM UTC

trustfundbaby wrote: post #4

I LOVE github, their little project forever changed the way I think about & write software, and their ideas (blogposts/presentations) about how to build software are truly a massive inspiration for me. PS: Would be awesome to see who has the oldest github account on here. I joined April 20 2008.

April 10, 2008, but Jeremy has me beat (as do several others, I'm sure)

Re: Github turns five

#35

Post by shurcooL » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:44 AM UTC

Paul_D_Santana wrote: post #7

How did you learn Github?

For me, it was this: http://try.github.com/

I've been on the verge wanting to learn Git and GitHub for a long time, but that was what pushed me over the edge.

Re: Github turns five

#36

Post by m_mueller » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:46 AM UTC

Schwolop wrote: post #18

m_mueller wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: If it's not for GitHub's community features that get enabled through git's decentralized repository, what does git do for you more than a local SVN server?

I used to use SVN. We built control software for robots. We'd take the robots away on a field trial - no internet access - fix some bugs, write some code, add some features. That's five to ten people, all writing code that interacts with each other's, all without any access to the SVN server. You can imagine the copy-pasta that went on. The amount of "oh fuck, I just rebuilt-all without Dave's changes". The amount of…

Thanks, that's an interesting example. Yes, I can absolutely see that for truly collaborative projects where multiple programming tasks over the same code portions run in parallel, git becomes a real time saver. I just haven't run into such a project yet myself.

Re: Github turns five

#37

Post by xguox » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:49 AM UTC

the same birthday for Meteor(http://meteor.com/)

Re: Github turns five

#38

Post by jacquesm » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:51 AM UTC

m_mueller wrote: post #10

benatkin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Say what you want about GitHub, Git is awesome. (Not sure why we're comparing them but I'll throw in my opposing opinion. I actually like both but Git itself is much more important to me than GitHub.)

Honest question: If it's not for GitHub's community features that get enabled through git's decentralized repository, what does git do for you more than a local SVN server?

> what does git do for you more than a local SVN server?

It does less than a local SVN server, there is no server.

Git is peer-to-peer, which is a huge advantage. Because it is decentralized you can access your whole repo and its history while off-line. That and easy branching are the main selling points of Git though over time you discover more and more ways in which Git is subtly superior.

If I could start over again on my main repo I'd do it in Git but I already have all my files dating back a long time in an svn repository so the cost of transiting is huge. (it is a very large repository). But anything new is stored in Git. Maybe one day I'll work up the courage to do a proper transition.

Re: Github turns five

#39

Post by fudged71 » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:53 AM UTC

hkmurakami wrote: post #12

Without Github, contributing to OSS would have been much harder for me (being a noncoder). Thank you for giving us a tool with tremendous leverage in many aspects, both technical and nontechnical.

In which ways do you contribute to OSS on github without being a coder? Through issues?

Re: Github turns five

#40

Post by jlgreco » Thu, Apr 11, 2013, 5:54 AM UTC

marssaxman wrote: post #33

jmathai wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest response: If you're coming from a Subversion background (like I did) then wrapping your head around the possibilities of git takes a long time. You almost have to unlearn everything you knew about version control. If you're not frequently using local branches, your stash, `git add --patch`, git bisect or git rebase then you're really missing out. Everyone's git workflow is different which makes it even harder…

Wrapping your head around git takes a long time regardless of your background, because git's interface is incoherent and requires you to understand internal details of its implementation to a degree I haven't seen in a commonly used dev tool since the '80s.

I don't think this is really true.

Sure, you have to learn the (absurdly simple) model that git uses behind the scenes, but after you do that, who really cares about the standard CLI interface? That interface sucks in the same way a dashboard might suck on an all-terrian vehicle. Sure it looks like shit, all the knobs are in the wrong place and don't turn in consistent ways, and that analog clock seems really out of place in a car... but who really cares? It doesn't impede actual use.

Those "internal details of its implementation" are in fact what git actually is. "Learning git" without learning that stuff is not in fact learning git.