4 ms·

Why I don't care: Because it simply doesn't matter that much IMHO. A startup doesn't succeed or fail based on which RCS it uses, it may fail if it doesn't use

by axod 18y ago

Why I don't care: Because it simply doesn't matter that much IMHO. A startup doesn't succeed or fail based on which RCS it uses, it may fail if it doesn't use any at all, and it may fail if people are wasting a large amount of time doing silly things (Moving directories in cvs). If you're hacking open source projects however, then I'd say Git is most likely the way to go.

babo 18y ago
I version control system determines the workflow so it has direct impact of the internals of a company.
- axod 18y ago
  For a small startup team, say 5 person max, is the workflow using git much different than using svn say?
  - nostrademons 18y ago
    The main advantage I can think of is that git makes it much easier to try out crazy and potentially embarrassing ideas. If you want to do this in svn, you create a branch, which exists on the server, which is visible to everyone else (though I guess many won't have it checked out). And when you commit, you need to be online, unless you've got something like svk. In git, you just create a local branch, try it out, and see if you like the results. If you do, you can have a buddy pull your new branch and see if he likes them, and if everything's good, merge it into master. If you don't, just delete the local branch and nobody's the wiser. Also makes for really quick commits while you're trying things out.
  - llimllib 18y ago
    we're 4 people at a startup using it, and I absolutely love it for the reasons nostrademons mentioned.
  - babo 18y ago
    We used it in a style where 2-3 people teams shared code to develop a feature, a person often worked on different teams at the same time. When a group finished they forwarded they changes to the 'merge master', a weekly shift of lead developers of the company. After a code review the code reached our main repository or landed back for a review. Sometimes weeks of development arrived to the main tree in a safe way with full revision history. This kind of development method was unheard before, the style change improved code quality and reduced conflicts. My favorite story when we worked with a college thousands of kilometers away till the last minute to demonstrate a key feature to a customer at a trade show, exchanging revisions by emails, delivered on a USB stick. That's a real technology start-up way to handle development. I wrote and debug a lot of code to that company but my biggest impact was to introduce mercurial to the team.
- wmf 18y ago
  But since all DVCSes can basically implement the same workflows, the git vs. hg/bzr argument still doesn't matter.
pjhyett 18y ago
It matters when you realize how much more productive you are when you use a better SCM. I'd recommend giving Git a couple weeks and see if you still feel that way.
- silentbicycle 18y ago
  There are seriously diminishing returns to this, though. Spending lots of time reading about a VCS that might be 2% better (or a language, for that matter) can be counterproductive, or a form of procrastination. They're just a means to an end, after all.
silentbicycle 18y ago
Some people (including myself) find VCSs fascinating, but at the same time, a strong indicator of an excellent VCS is that it largely stays out of your way. Knowing you have a safety net if you need to track some large changes you may revert allows you to take bigger risks, but having a system which is reliable and doesn't interfere with group communication / workflow is at least as important. In the end, it's just a tool. Pick a pretty good one and move on.
bootload 18y ago
"... Because it simply doesn't matter that much IMHO. A startup doesn't succeed or fail based on which RCS it uses, it may fail if it doesn't use any at all ..." But you are making a statement not using good tools and it might be harder to get good hackers.

by axod 18y ago

babo 18y ago

I version control system determines the workflow so it has direct impact of the internals of a company.

axod 18y ago
For a small startup team, say 5 person max, is the workflow using git much different than using svn say?
- nostrademons 18y ago
  The main advantage I can think of is that git makes it much easier to try out crazy and potentially embarrassing ideas. If you want to do this in svn, you create a branch, which exists on the server, which is visible to everyone else (though I guess many won't have it checked out). And when you commit, you need to be online, unless you've got something like svk. In git, you just create a local branch, try it out, and see if you like the results. If you do, you can have a buddy pull your new branch and see if he likes them, and if everything's good, merge it into master. If you don't, just delete the local branch and nobody's the wiser. Also makes for really quick commits while you're trying things out.
- llimllib 18y ago
  we're 4 people at a startup using it, and I absolutely love it for the reasons nostrademons mentioned.
- babo 18y ago
  We used it in a style where 2-3 people teams shared code to develop a feature, a person often worked on different teams at the same time. When a group finished they forwarded they changes to the 'merge master', a weekly shift of lead developers of the company. After a code review the code reached our main repository or landed back for a review. Sometimes weeks of development arrived to the main tree in a safe way with full revision history. This kind of development method was unheard before, the style change improved code quality and reduced conflicts. My favorite story when we worked with a college thousands of kilometers away till the last minute to demonstrate a key feature to a customer at a trade show, exchanging revisions by emails, delivered on a USB stick. That's a real technology start-up way to handle development. I wrote and debug a lot of code to that company but my biggest impact was to introduce mercurial to the team.
wmf 18y ago
But since all DVCSes can basically implement the same workflows, the git vs. hg/bzr argument still doesn't matter.

pjhyett 18y ago

It matters when you realize how much more productive you are when you use a better SCM. I'd recommend giving Git a couple weeks and see if you still feel that way.

silentbicycle 18y ago
There are seriously diminishing returns to this, though. Spending lots of time reading about a VCS that might be 2% better (or a language, for that matter) can be counterproductive, or a form of procrastination. They're just a means to an end, after all.

silentbicycle 18y ago

Some people (including myself) find VCSs fascinating, but at the same time, a strong indicator of an excellent VCS is that it largely stays out of your way. Knowing you have a safety net if you need to track some large changes you may revert allows you to take bigger risks, but having a system which is reliable and doesn't interfere with group communication / workflow is at least as important. In the end, it's just a tool. Pick a pretty good one and move on.

bootload 18y ago

"... Because it simply doesn't matter that much IMHO. A startup doesn't succeed or fail based on which RCS it uses, it may fail if it doesn't use any at all ..." But you are making a statement not using good tools and it might be harder to get good hackers.