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I just taught git to my boss and a coworker. They both use Windows exclusively and don't touch a command line. I was able to teach them the basics (push, pull,

I just taught git to my boss and a coworker. They both use Windows exclusively and don't touch a command line. I was able to teach them the basics (push, pull, clone, commit, status) and they learned very quickly. I told them to ignore the other commands for now, but look up how to use them when they need them. Great advice!

japhyr 12y ago
What's the best approach to using fit on Windows? I am comfortable with git basics on the Linux command line, and I want to teach it to students who are using Windows. Is there a windows command line version, or is there a GUI version I should start them on?
- weaksauce 12y ago
  Sourcetree is nice and free.
- raziel2p 12y ago
  If you run the default Git windows installer, it installs something called "Git bash" which is basically msys (part of mingw) with git included, which gives you command line access to git very easily. If you want to teach them the CLI way from the start, that is the way to go.
  - mikevm 12y ago
    I believe that "Git for Windows" has been EOL'd in favor of https://github.com/git-for-windows/sdk https://github.com/git-for-windows/sdk (which hasn't seen a first official release yet).
    - voltagex_ 12y ago
      >This is an Inno Setup based wrapper around MinGW's mingw-get which installs a development environment for building Git for Windows using GCC. This installs the dependencies and environment needed for building Git from source. I think that's overkill for most users.
  - ethomson 12y ago
    You can teach them how to use the git command-line interface without forcing them to use Bash, though. Nothing wrong with simply putting `git` in your path.
    - girvo 12y ago
      As someone who used Windows for development for a long time, depending on what languages they're learning, using Bash is a much better idea than `cmd.exe` or PowerShell. The latter is quite nice, but when you're using *nix based software, the differences between the two are great enough to cause (at least for me personally) a bit of confusion.
      - ethomson 12y ago
        I'm coming from it from the other direction: I'm a long time Unix guy who has crash landed on Windows. I find any Unix-like environment on Windows to just be an atrocity. Cygwin and mingw are both embarrassing compromises that are so middling as to be nearly pointless. And I like the Bourne shell syntax. It seems cruel to make somebody relearn their command-line interface only to give them the neutered, confused interface that Git Bash provides.
- deathtrader666 12y ago
  FWIW, GitHub has a fantastic Metro-esque app for Windows - https://windows.github.com/ https://windows.github.com/
  - voltagex_ 12y ago
    I prefer SourceTree from Atlassian, but GitHub for Windows may be easier for beginners.
    - V-2 12y ago
      There's also Git Extensions: https://code.google.com/p/gitextensions/ https://code.google.com/p/gitextensions/ I was discouraged by early releases of SourceTree for Windows because it was buggy. I believe it has improved by now, but I got used to Git Extensions already. It's open source and written in C#, by the way - I keep on planning to fork it and make it more to my liking, just can't find time for that :) If I recall well, the GitHub app doesn't provide any branch visualization, correct me if I'm wrong. Git Extensions could be a good choice for teaching, because you get a preview of what commands are being executed by the client. It's not a blackbox that hides what Git does underneath.
    - chadzawistowski 12y ago
      GitHub for Windows is definitely too simplistic, though attractive. I use the TK-based `git gui` which comes with git regardless of OS.
- Already__Taken 12y ago
  Personally I install git from their website and tick the middle radio option to use git from the normal command line. I live in the powershell.exe console all the time. You might want to see the cmder project it can come with a build that includes it all ready to go. http://bliker.github.io/cmder/ http://bliker.github.io/cmder/
V-2 12y ago
I know that real programmers only use command line (and chew bees), but GUI client is really helpful for grokking a complex history with lots of branches, merges etc.

japhyr 12y ago

What's the best approach to using fit on Windows? I am comfortable with git basics on the Linux command line, and I want to teach it to students who are using Windows. Is there a windows command line version, or is there a GUI version I should start them on?

weaksauce 12y ago
Sourcetree is nice and free.
raziel2p 12y ago
If you run the default Git windows installer, it installs something called "Git bash" which is basically msys (part of mingw) with git included, which gives you command line access to git very easily. If you want to teach them the CLI way from the start, that is the way to go.
- mikevm 12y ago
  I believe that "Git for Windows" has been EOL'd in favor of https://github.com/git-for-windows/sdk https://github.com/git-for-windows/sdk (which hasn't seen a first official release yet).
  - voltagex_ 12y ago
    >This is an Inno Setup based wrapper around MinGW's mingw-get which installs a development environment for building Git for Windows using GCC. This installs the dependencies and environment needed for building Git from source. I think that's overkill for most users.
- ethomson 12y ago
  You can teach them how to use the git command-line interface without forcing them to use Bash, though. Nothing wrong with simply putting `git` in your path.
  - girvo 12y ago
    As someone who used Windows for development for a long time, depending on what languages they're learning, using Bash is a much better idea than `cmd.exe` or PowerShell. The latter is quite nice, but when you're using *nix based software, the differences between the two are great enough to cause (at least for me personally) a bit of confusion.
    - ethomson 12y ago
      I'm coming from it from the other direction: I'm a long time Unix guy who has crash landed on Windows. I find any Unix-like environment on Windows to just be an atrocity. Cygwin and mingw are both embarrassing compromises that are so middling as to be nearly pointless. And I like the Bourne shell syntax. It seems cruel to make somebody relearn their command-line interface only to give them the neutered, confused interface that Git Bash provides.
deathtrader666 12y ago
FWIW, GitHub has a fantastic Metro-esque app for Windows - https://windows.github.com/ https://windows.github.com/
- voltagex_ 12y ago
  I prefer SourceTree from Atlassian, but GitHub for Windows may be easier for beginners.
  - V-2 12y ago
    There's also Git Extensions: https://code.google.com/p/gitextensions/ https://code.google.com/p/gitextensions/ I was discouraged by early releases of SourceTree for Windows because it was buggy. I believe it has improved by now, but I got used to Git Extensions already. It's open source and written in C#, by the way - I keep on planning to fork it and make it more to my liking, just can't find time for that :) If I recall well, the GitHub app doesn't provide any branch visualization, correct me if I'm wrong. Git Extensions could be a good choice for teaching, because you get a preview of what commands are being executed by the client. It's not a blackbox that hides what Git does underneath.
  - chadzawistowski 12y ago
    GitHub for Windows is definitely too simplistic, though attractive. I use the TK-based `git gui` which comes with git regardless of OS.
Already__Taken 12y ago
Personally I install git from their website and tick the middle radio option to use git from the normal command line. I live in the powershell.exe console all the time. You might want to see the cmder project it can come with a build that includes it all ready to go. http://bliker.github.io/cmder/ http://bliker.github.io/cmder/

V-2 12y ago

I know that real programmers only use command line (and chew bees), but GUI client is really helpful for grokking a complex history with lots of branches, merges etc.