My impression is that the issues people have with branching in Subversion is down to a workflow problem (the people and their actions) more than the software it

My impression is that the issues people have with branching in Subversion is down to a workflow problem (the people and their actions) more than the software itself. Yes, Git does branching and merging way better than Subversion. Git branching is easier, lighter weight, and it understands playing back revisions to avoid conflicts very well. But Subversion isn't a nightmare if you have procedures in place that everyone on the development team uses and if the development team talks to each other on a regular basis about it. This whole procedures and talking to each other thing can be hard for some people and if the mentality of the group isn't good about it when you join, you'll have an experience like the OP.