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Your critique seems to be based off comparing git to mercurial and declaring that git is designed better. I don't think you're going to see a ton of disagreemen

Your critique seems to be based off comparing git to mercurial and declaring that git is designed better. I don't think you're going to see a ton of disagreement with that in this community. You make good points too, with context a lot of those commands make more sense. However well designed software shouldn't need the context. Well designed software is intuitive. We shouldn't need to know the intricacies in the git data model to able to understand the major commands and tools. As we begin to do more complex operations then more knowledge can be a prerequisite. The fact that these commands all made sense with a detailed explanation is only a symptom of the problem, not an excuse.

ollysb 14y ago
Normally I would agree with you that software should be intuitive with a minimum of learning. However git is only used by expert users, people who use it all day every day. There's no doubt that git has a bit of a steep learning curve but the abstraction you're forced to learn is really powerful. Having come from SVN the intuitive abstraction I was used to now seems woefully inadequate.
- jamesgeck0 14y ago
  I am an expert user. I've been using git almost every day for months. I've read about it's underlying data model and could write a tool that used it if I really needed to. I _still_ have to use Google whenever I try to do anything with git that falls outside my normal workflow.
  - porker 14y ago
    Here Here! Same experience for me
- elbear 14y ago
  What do you mean that git is used by expert users? Expert in what, git? If that is true, then I agree with you that you need to be an expert in git to be able to use it efficiently and not second guess yourself constantly when you come across a problem. I agree that git's internal design is very well thought out. Its interface is very inconsistent though.
- develop7 14y ago
  > git is only used by expert users 1 235 026 expert users, my eye

ollysb 14y ago

Normally I would agree with you that software should be intuitive with a minimum of learning. However git is only used by expert users, people who use it all day every day. There's no doubt that git has a bit of a steep learning curve but the abstraction you're forced to learn is really powerful. Having come from SVN the intuitive abstraction I was used to now seems woefully inadequate.

jamesgeck0 14y ago
I am an expert user. I've been using git almost every day for months. I've read about it's underlying data model and could write a tool that used it if I really needed to. I _still_ have to use Google whenever I try to do anything with git that falls outside my normal workflow.
- porker 14y ago
  Here Here! Same experience for me
elbear 14y ago
What do you mean that git is used by expert users? Expert in what, git? If that is true, then I agree with you that you need to be an expert in git to be able to use it efficiently and not second guess yourself constantly when you come across a problem. I agree that git's internal design is very well thought out. Its interface is very inconsistent though.
develop7 14y ago
> git is only used by expert users 1 235 026 expert users, my eye