[Kdenlive-devel] move to git ?

[Clifford Wolf]

Hi,

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 02:18:08PM +0100, Marco Gittler wrote:
> since sourceforge now provides SCM also in git, i would ask if someone  
> has anything against moving from svn to git.

usually I'm just a stalker on this list, but since scm is one of my core
expertises and it looks like there are some strong oppinions on it I
decided to post my thoughts to this topic..

first of all: there is almost no good documentation out there for git. most
so called git tutorioals don't explain anything about how git actually
works but instead just give the useres some commands to copy and paste.
this is dangerous imo because git is a so powerfull tool and powerwull
tools sometimes can be dangerous when users don't know what there are
doing.

a git introduction that I can actually recommend is "Git from the bottom
up" by John Wiegley:

http://www.newartisans.com/blog_assets/git.from.bottom.up.pdf

the german speaking audiance may also enyjoy the video of my complete
"Sourcecodemanagement mit GIT" talk (about 3 hours). Unfortunately there
is no english version of that talk yet...

http://fahrzeugtechnik.fh-joanneum.at/workshops/2008-09-12/   (german!)

the good thing about subversion is that it is so easy. everyone who was
using a computer sometime in the last 20 years does know the filesystem
metaphor and so subversion branching, tagging, etc does not introduce a new
concept. i have learned in my workshops that people who have never used an
scm before adapt very quickly to subversion because of this concept while
people who have been using systems like cvs with explicit branching and
tagging have a harder time getting used to subversion.

another advantage of subversion is that excellent documentation. there is
not only the subversion handbook but also a lot of additional books and
recources online and there are so many people using subversion that it is
also very easy to find someone to ask your questions...

another advantage of subversion is that it has a pretty consisten naming
scheme for stuff like the svn commands and command line options. In git it
isn't unusual that the same thing is differently named in two commands,
that one functionality is duplicated in different tools, etc.

in my personal opinion git is the better system from a technical point of
view. it also is by far more flexible if you want to implement your own
workflow.

but svn is much easier to use, much easier to understand for new
users, much better documented and comes with an established workflow..

that's why I would recommend to stick with svn unless there is a strong
reason for switching to git.

every evolving project earlier or later comes to a point vere there is a
discussion about who should have write privileges to the scm repository.
usually it is that point where switching from another scm to git should be
considered.

btw: I'm using git a lot for projects that actually are in svn or another
scm. in this cases I have a local git repository syncing from the projects
central scm. there I can play around with different branches use rebase and
all the funny git features and finally send patches to the projects mailing
lists..

yours,
 - clifford

-- 
A: No.
Q: Should I include quotations after my reply?