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I wonder why this page doesn't have one of the most frequently asked and rated question: "How to undo last commits in Git". It's rated 11k times so far. [1] ht

by devy 10y ago

I wonder why this page doesn't have one of the most frequently asked and rated question: "How to undo last commits in Git". It's rated 11k times so far. [1] http://stackoverflow.com/questions/927358/how-to-undo-last-commits-in-git http://stackoverflow.com/questions/927358/how-to-undo-last-c...

dozzie 10y ago
The reply should be "if you didn't find it in documentation by now, you probably aren't qualified enough to use it".
- pjc50 10y ago
  Few people are really qualified to use it. Most are required to use it and not given the required weeks of training.
  - dozzie 10y ago
    That's a shame it takes them weeks to read three quite comprehensible man pages to think up two different ways of changing commit history. How did we actually get to the point where it takes weeks of training to use git, when I remember learning how to use it in a day or two, ten years ago (when it was much less usable and documented), and for a (far from trivial) use case of being a helper tool for off-line work with Subversion?
    - squeaky-clean 10y ago
      And even if it does take someone a month to learn Git, is that not worth it? You'll be using it pretty much every day for a decade, if not longer.
      - convolvatron 10y ago
        the desire would be to have a system which let you get started relatively quickly, and learn it more in depth as you have need to. git really doesn't work this way because unless you manage your branching and merging in a sympathetic way (to both git and your peers), you can get very thoroughly punished.
    - angry-hacker 10y ago
      Probably because you have 10 years of experience? Git is a mess, but popular tool and many peopled are forced to use it instead of some sane system.
      - dozzie 10y ago
        > Probably because you have 10 years of experience? I was learning git a decade ago, and all it took was at most two days of reading. And yes, this includes the idea on how to rewrite commit history (actually another one, very low-level; I don't expect anybody to ever think of this way for the task). I didn't have StackOverflow or plethora of tutorials on web that are present today. > Git is a mess I keep hearing that, but once upon a time (seven? years ago) I tried learning Mercurial, this paragon of usability, and I couldn't figure out one of the simpler things: how to setup a repository to merge changes from two other repositories without specifying full paths. Given that, either I'm very smart, because I picked up git so quickly, but so-praised Mercurial "is a mess", or I'm very stupid, because I couldn't figure so simple Mercurial function, but then what does it say about people who can't read the fsckin' git docs?
- blakeyrat 10y ago
  Do you think if I had a choice, I would have chosen Git? Ugh. No, I'm forced to use it as a condition of employment. You're right: I'm not qualified to use it, I disqualify myself with the rule "only use software that at least pretends to be usable", but that doesn't mean I have a choice in the matter.
  - dozzie 10y ago
    > Do you think if I had a choice, I would have chosen Git? Ugh. > No, I'm forced to use it as a condition of employment. And you deem it a valid reason to avoid learning the tool you use? O_o
    - blakeyrat 10y ago
      I don't want to be able to think the same way people who think Git is a great tool think. If that makes sense. If I get brainwashed into thinking Git is well-designed or good in any way, I'm afraid I'll completely lose my ability to design quality user interfaces.
      - dozzie 10y ago
        Git with its interface may be rough, but this is merely a superficial trait. The same category as saying that Erlang is fugly because its syntax derives from Prolog. Who cares? It's mechanics and semantics, respectively, that matter. I can whack git repository with a hammer and achieve good, reliable results this way (and I already needed it several times in weird scenarios; I wouldn't get far with Hg under the same circumstances). Pretty much the same case as with Linux OS: all the internals are easily accessible, and user interface is just good enough for me to use.
        blakeyrat 10y ago
        > Who cares? I care. I want to build software normal human beings can actually use. Git is not that. Learning more about Git is me going in the wrong direction entirely. I don't want to go in the wrong direction, I want to go in the right direction.

by devy 10y ago

dozzie 10y ago

The reply should be "if you didn't find it in documentation by now, you probably aren't qualified enough to use it".

pjc50 10y ago
Few people are really qualified to use it. Most are required to use it and not given the required weeks of training.
- dozzie 10y ago
  That's a shame it takes them weeks to read three quite comprehensible man pages to think up two different ways of changing commit history. How did we actually get to the point where it takes weeks of training to use git, when I remember learning how to use it in a day or two, ten years ago (when it was much less usable and documented), and for a (far from trivial) use case of being a helper tool for off-line work with Subversion?
  - squeaky-clean 10y ago
    And even if it does take someone a month to learn Git, is that not worth it? You'll be using it pretty much every day for a decade, if not longer.
    - convolvatron 10y ago
      the desire would be to have a system which let you get started relatively quickly, and learn it more in depth as you have need to. git really doesn't work this way because unless you manage your branching and merging in a sympathetic way (to both git and your peers), you can get very thoroughly punished.
  - angry-hacker 10y ago
    Probably because you have 10 years of experience? Git is a mess, but popular tool and many peopled are forced to use it instead of some sane system.
    - dozzie 10y ago
      > Probably because you have 10 years of experience? I was learning git a decade ago, and all it took was at most two days of reading. And yes, this includes the idea on how to rewrite commit history (actually another one, very low-level; I don't expect anybody to ever think of this way for the task). I didn't have StackOverflow or plethora of tutorials on web that are present today. > Git is a mess I keep hearing that, but once upon a time (seven? years ago) I tried learning Mercurial, this paragon of usability, and I couldn't figure out one of the simpler things: how to setup a repository to merge changes from two other repositories without specifying full paths. Given that, either I'm very smart, because I picked up git so quickly, but so-praised Mercurial "is a mess", or I'm very stupid, because I couldn't figure so simple Mercurial function, but then what does it say about people who can't read the fsckin' git docs?
blakeyrat 10y ago
Do you think if I had a choice, I would have chosen Git? Ugh. No, I'm forced to use it as a condition of employment. You're right: I'm not qualified to use it, I disqualify myself with the rule "only use software that at least pretends to be usable", but that doesn't mean I have a choice in the matter.
- dozzie 10y ago
  > Do you think if I had a choice, I would have chosen Git? Ugh. > No, I'm forced to use it as a condition of employment. And you deem it a valid reason to avoid learning the tool you use? O_o
  - blakeyrat 10y ago
    I don't want to be able to think the same way people who think Git is a great tool think. If that makes sense. If I get brainwashed into thinking Git is well-designed or good in any way, I'm afraid I'll completely lose my ability to design quality user interfaces.
    - dozzie 10y ago
      Git with its interface may be rough, but this is merely a superficial trait. The same category as saying that Erlang is fugly because its syntax derives from Prolog. Who cares? It's mechanics and semantics, respectively, that matter. I can whack git repository with a hammer and achieve good, reliable results this way (and I already needed it several times in weird scenarios; I wouldn't get far with Hg under the same circumstances). Pretty much the same case as with Linux OS: all the internals are easily accessible, and user interface is just good enough for me to use.
      - blakeyrat 10y ago
        > Who cares? I care. I want to build software normal human beings can actually use. Git is not that. Learning more about Git is me going in the wrong direction entirely. I don't want to go in the wrong direction, I want to go in the right direction.