6 ms·

Seems pretty difficult to use, almost on the same level as trying to learn to use vim/emacs on 2017, somehow i expected a "poweful (G)UI" rather than a text-bas

Seems pretty difficult to use, almost on the same level as trying to learn to use vim/emacs on 2017, somehow i expected a "poweful (G)UI" rather than a text-based one. Anyone has a good recommendation for a good GUI for GIT, GIT-GUI its a really confusing and jetbrains integrations felt like someone with heavy background on cvs/svn made the interface.

taeric 9y ago
What is difficult about it? I don't mean that combatively. Genuinely curious. I'd think a toolbar might help some folks, but I also expect some folks need a different interface.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  I use SourceTree mainly for staging and diffs. Git GUI is not that great in that aspect.
  - monsieurbanana 9y ago
    Diff's are the only thing I don't like in magit. Well, it's not really magit per se, as it uses another emacs plugins for that. Staging/unstaging/reverting (specially when you don't want to do that for a whole file but for a chunk) in magit however is so far ahead of every other git interface I've seen that it's not even funny.
    - maxxxxx 9y ago
      SourceTree also lets you stage and unstage/discard hunks in a really nice way.
- CJefferson 9y ago
  From the example of kickstarter, it seems completely undiscoverable -- things just keep happening and popping up and down, with no obvious indication of how, or why, those things were selected. It's a demo which I'm sure appeals to emacs users, who are the target, but I couldn't imagine using it as a non-emacs user. I previously tried learning emacs to use OrgMode, and gave up after a couple of days when I failed to master even basic text editing skills.
  - taeric 9y ago
    The key bindings are typically very mnenomic. For example "s" stages, "c" brings up the commit window, "b" the branches window, etc. There are a few that go against this. "x", for example. But it really becomes almost conversational. Edit: corrected spelling of mnenomic. :) Not convinced it is correct word, oddly...
    - funspectre 9y ago
      The correct spelling should be mnemonic.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - taeric 9y ago
        Yeah, originally I put pneumonic. Which, is definitely wrong. I just keep thinking there is another word that is even more applicable than mnemonic. Guessing I'm just confusing myself.
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    It's actually very discoverable. The video lacked the sidebar showing the keypresses, though. Generally, each time you press a key that is part of a sequence, you get a pop-up explaining what further keys are available. So for instance, I opened magit (M-x magit-status) on a project and pressed ? (for help): https://i.imgur.com/c5cmmpB.png https://i.imgur.com/c5cmmpB.png The popup lists the keys I can use on magit-status page, and if you know git it's pretty obvious where to go in most cases. Also, at any time you can press ? and then one of the key listed in the popup to get a detailed description and/or an appropriate manpage.
  - SadWebDeveloper 9y ago
    This is my original point, tbh i didn't know about magit before this post, when i first opened the link and find out about it somehow i expected a GUI rather than a text-based app, m sure vim/emacs fans are excited about it but to me, this type of UIs (text-based) feel old and clunky. it's like we were still using norton/midnight commander for handling our files.
- watty 9y ago
  I came to the same conclusion but I admit I didn't spend too much time looking at it. I first visited their docs: https://magit.vc/manual/magit.html#Introduction https://magit.vc/manual/magit.html#Introduction And saw that it's over 100 pages (printed).
  - taeric 9y ago
    Feels odd punishing a tool for extensive docs. :) It is powerful, in that it exposes everything of git. However, I doubt most people use most of that. I've found few, for example, know all the flags you can pass log. Magit actually helps fill them with tab completion on path names and such. Just read the getting started guide, and you are set for most use cases.
    - watty 9y ago
      It could be that I would only need 10% of this knowledge, I get it. I really wasn't intending to "punish" it, simply stating that over 100 pages of detailed docs for a Git UI can be intimidating.
      - taeric 9y ago
        I meant that in a lighthearted way. I know you aren't actually punishing it. At the same time, I fully understand the intimidation of a giant doc. I'm just not sure how to actually address that. The big doc is good to have. It is a shame folks land immediately on it.
LiquidFlux 9y ago
Used to use Atlassian's SourceTree, major slowdowns and lack of a native merge conflict resolution tool had us pleasantly surprised when we first heard of GitKraken: https://www.gitkraken.com/ https://www.gitkraken.com/ A year later after discovering Kraken, we've now migrated to it and the developer experience has been great.
- jorvi 9y ago
  GitKraken is on Electron (not a good thing) and has to be one of the sluggiest clients I've ever used actually. Try Tower or Fork.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  SourceTree is a great example for how to destroy a software. The first version was great and showed a good understanding of how to work with git. Then it seems other devs took over and just messed it up completely. Pretty sad.
csomar 9y ago
SourceTree is really fantastic and works on Windows/OSX/Linux. It is free, but you have to "sign up for Atlassian License key" or something like that.
- shock 9y ago
  Are you sure SourceTree works on Linux? I couldn't find any reference to that or a way to download the Linux version.
  - csomar 9y ago
    My fault I was probably wrong (or maybe they removed support?). I was on Linux before switching to OSX and I don't remember changing my Git client. Can't edit my parent comment though now :/
wging 9y ago
It's really easy.
pmoriarty 9y ago
The question is: How well do you know git? If you know it well, magit should be pretty intuitive. If you don't know git, you might be overwhelmed by all the strange names and options. But they're all just git -- all exposed for you to use.
- SadWebDeveloper 9y ago
  Nice ad hominem pal.
nsxwolf 9y ago
IntelliJ's git UI is the best I've seen.

taeric 9y ago

What is difficult about it? I don't mean that combatively. Genuinely curious. I'd think a toolbar might help some folks, but I also expect some folks need a different interface.

maxxxxx 9y ago
I use SourceTree mainly for staging and diffs. Git GUI is not that great in that aspect.
- monsieurbanana 9y ago
  Diff's are the only thing I don't like in magit. Well, it's not really magit per se, as it uses another emacs plugins for that. Staging/unstaging/reverting (specially when you don't want to do that for a whole file but for a chunk) in magit however is so far ahead of every other git interface I've seen that it's not even funny.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    SourceTree also lets you stage and unstage/discard hunks in a really nice way.
CJefferson 9y ago
From the example of kickstarter, it seems completely undiscoverable -- things just keep happening and popping up and down, with no obvious indication of how, or why, those things were selected. It's a demo which I'm sure appeals to emacs users, who are the target, but I couldn't imagine using it as a non-emacs user. I previously tried learning emacs to use OrgMode, and gave up after a couple of days when I failed to master even basic text editing skills.
- taeric 9y ago
  The key bindings are typically very mnenomic. For example "s" stages, "c" brings up the commit window, "b" the branches window, etc. There are a few that go against this. "x", for example. But it really becomes almost conversational. Edit: corrected spelling of mnenomic. :) Not convinced it is correct word, oddly...
  - funspectre 9y ago
    The correct spelling should be mnemonic.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - taeric 9y ago
      Yeah, originally I put pneumonic. Which, is definitely wrong. I just keep thinking there is another word that is even more applicable than mnemonic. Guessing I'm just confusing myself.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  It's actually very discoverable. The video lacked the sidebar showing the keypresses, though. Generally, each time you press a key that is part of a sequence, you get a pop-up explaining what further keys are available. So for instance, I opened magit (M-x magit-status) on a project and pressed ? (for help): https://i.imgur.com/c5cmmpB.png https://i.imgur.com/c5cmmpB.png The popup lists the keys I can use on magit-status page, and if you know git it's pretty obvious where to go in most cases. Also, at any time you can press ? and then one of the key listed in the popup to get a detailed description and/or an appropriate manpage.
- SadWebDeveloper 9y ago
  This is my original point, tbh i didn't know about magit before this post, when i first opened the link and find out about it somehow i expected a GUI rather than a text-based app, m sure vim/emacs fans are excited about it but to me, this type of UIs (text-based) feel old and clunky. it's like we were still using norton/midnight commander for handling our files.
watty 9y ago
I came to the same conclusion but I admit I didn't spend too much time looking at it. I first visited their docs: https://magit.vc/manual/magit.html#Introduction https://magit.vc/manual/magit.html#Introduction And saw that it's over 100 pages (printed).
- taeric 9y ago
  Feels odd punishing a tool for extensive docs. :) It is powerful, in that it exposes everything of git. However, I doubt most people use most of that. I've found few, for example, know all the flags you can pass log. Magit actually helps fill them with tab completion on path names and such. Just read the getting started guide, and you are set for most use cases.
  - watty 9y ago
    It could be that I would only need 10% of this knowledge, I get it. I really wasn't intending to "punish" it, simply stating that over 100 pages of detailed docs for a Git UI can be intimidating.
    - taeric 9y ago
      I meant that in a lighthearted way. I know you aren't actually punishing it. At the same time, I fully understand the intimidation of a giant doc. I'm just not sure how to actually address that. The big doc is good to have. It is a shame folks land immediately on it.

LiquidFlux 9y ago

Used to use Atlassian's SourceTree, major slowdowns and lack of a native merge conflict resolution tool had us pleasantly surprised when we first heard of GitKraken: https://www.gitkraken.com/ https://www.gitkraken.com/ A year later after discovering Kraken, we've now migrated to it and the developer experience has been great.

jorvi 9y ago
GitKraken is on Electron (not a good thing) and has to be one of the sluggiest clients I've ever used actually. Try Tower or Fork.
maxxxxx 9y ago
SourceTree is a great example for how to destroy a software. The first version was great and showed a good understanding of how to work with git. Then it seems other devs took over and just messed it up completely. Pretty sad.

csomar 9y ago

SourceTree is really fantastic and works on Windows/OSX/Linux. It is free, but you have to "sign up for Atlassian License key" or something like that.

shock 9y ago
Are you sure SourceTree works on Linux? I couldn't find any reference to that or a way to download the Linux version.
- csomar 9y ago
  My fault I was probably wrong (or maybe they removed support?). I was on Linux before switching to OSX and I don't remember changing my Git client. Can't edit my parent comment though now :/

wging 9y ago

It's really easy.

pmoriarty 9y ago

The question is: How well do you know git? If you know it well, magit should be pretty intuitive. If you don't know git, you might be overwhelmed by all the strange names and options. But they're all just git -- all exposed for you to use.

SadWebDeveloper 9y ago
Nice ad hominem pal.

nsxwolf 9y ago

IntelliJ's git UI is the best I've seen.