One reason I like git-flow is its insistence on two main branches, master and deploy. In a CI environment, it's great to have a CI pointing at develop so that "

One reason I like git-flow is its insistence on two main branches, master and deploy. In a CI environment, it's great to have a CI pointing at develop so that "finished" features and merges are constantly being tested, plus, you always have a master branch which (theoretically) is only getting fed from fully-tested release branches. Master stays pristine. Develop should also be pristine but if it fails, it's no big deal. Nevertheless, IME finding the right branching/release paradigm in group development situations has not been the biggest problem. The bigger hurdle has been reaching basic understanding of git and SCM tools in general -- even among groups of very good/experienced programmers.