So You Think You Know Git? - FOSDEM 2024 : programming

[–] tinkeringidiot@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Nobody knows git. We all just run the few basic commands, then again with the -f switch just in case. Then if that doesn’t work, reclone.

[–] tunetardis@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

Uh…I know enough to get in trouble with it?

[–] Kissaki@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

Regarding visual client: I've been using TortoiseGit since early on and no other client I've tried came close.

I use the log view and have an overview, and an entry point to all common operations I need. Other tools often fail on good overview, blaming through earlier revisions, filterable views of commits or files, or interactive rebase.

[–] technojamin@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

This was a really good talk! I’ve been using git for about a decade, but I learned several new things. Here’s a few:

Sorting git log by committer date
Speeding up common operations on bigger repos with git maintenance
More useful file blame with the -C flag on git blame

[+] ono@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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[–] Lodra@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I started using git meaningfully about 10 years ago. Mercurial maybe 6 years ago but not very much. And I was not a fan. Especially how it tracks things recursively.

So honest question. Why?

[–] ono@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Mercurial has comparable features (though maybe not obvious to someone accustomed to git) without the usability problems that still plague git nearly two decades later. Hg's interface was made with humans in mind. Git's was made to cut you.

(And it has cut so very many people that it's consistently among the most popular topics in Q&A forums, and has even inspired comics.)

Thankfully, git's early cross-platform shortcomings were eventually fixed, so that's at least some progress. I hope its UI and docs eventually get some love, too.

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