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Linux was dependent on BitKeeper for about three years. Git was written from scratch and hosting Linux in a period of three months. Linus's use of a technology

Linux was dependent on BitKeeper for about three years. Git was written from scratch and hosting Linux in a period of three months. Linus's use of a technology he didn't create is closer to a death knell than an endorsement. Would you rather have stock today in MySpace or a hypothetical 5-year-old SubversionHub? Obviously, the answer is different for different people, and there are good reasons to support and use Github and good reasons to invest in it. That programmers are good at product loyalty simply isn't one of them. Github is a decent medium-term bet, but Pinterest is a much better lottery ticket.

bad_user 14y ago
Git is popular because of Linus's excellence and marketing skills. And yeah, it took three months, but it took a lot longer for it to became popular and it was helped by Linus' endorsement. The comparison of BitKeeper to Git is not fair - you should compare it with Perforce instead. Would you rather have stock today in MySpace or a hypothetical 5-year-old SubversionHub I never liked MySpace or SourceForge, so if I had the option in front of me, I would have passed even at the peak of their popularity. This is the criteria after which I judge companies: (+) is the product solving a real problem for me? (yes) (+) are they a sustainable, profit-generating business yet? (yes) (+) is the product forcing users to remain customers? (no) (+) are they smart and hard-working enough to adapt to new market conditions? (yes) (+) do they still have growth potential? (yes, because GitHub is lately a social network for professional developers, being preferred over LinkedIn by many) That programmers are good at product loyalty simply isn't one of them. My point wasn't about loyalty. Developers tend to use the best tool for the job. I still use Google's search engine, even though alternatives are available, because Google still gives me the best results. And this creates a cycle - because I use Google and I optimize my websites for Google and because I use Google's Analytics and the Webmasters tool, Google gets more data with which it can optimize my results better than anybody else can. The same goes for GitHub. Even if I stopped being a GitHub customer, I would still go to GitHub because most popular projects are managed on GitHub or have a mirror there. Popularity in turn helps GitHub get valuable feedback, which it can use to further improve my experience, which in turn makes me a happier customer and so on.

bad_user 14y ago

Git is popular because of Linus's excellence and marketing skills. And yeah, it took three months, but it took a lot longer for it to became popular and it was helped by Linus' endorsement. The comparison of BitKeeper to Git is not fair - you should compare it with Perforce instead. Would you rather have stock today in MySpace or a hypothetical 5-year-old SubversionHub I never liked MySpace or SourceForge, so if I had the option in front of me, I would have passed even at the peak of their popularity. This is the criteria after which I judge companies: (+) is the product solving a real problem for me? (yes) (+) are they a sustainable, profit-generating business yet? (yes) (+) is the product forcing users to remain customers? (no) (+) are they smart and hard-working enough to adapt to new market conditions? (yes) (+) do they still have growth potential? (yes, because GitHub is lately a social network for professional developers, being preferred over LinkedIn by many) That programmers are good at product loyalty simply isn't one of them. My point wasn't about loyalty. Developers tend to use the best tool for the job. I still use Google's search engine, even though alternatives are available, because Google still gives me the best results. And this creates a cycle - because I use Google and I optimize my websites for Google and because I use Google's Analytics and the Webmasters tool, Google gets more data with which it can optimize my results better than anybody else can. The same goes for GitHub. Even if I stopped being a GitHub customer, I would still go to GitHub because most popular projects are managed on GitHub or have a mirror there. Popularity in turn helps GitHub get valuable feedback, which it can use to further improve my experience, which in turn makes me a happier customer and so on.