[WARNING] SourceForge DOWN (now back up, notes inside)

[barthess]

I have update git mirror. That can not be done without --force of the last commits. Sorry for inconvenience.

[Giovanni]

Thanks barthess.

BTW, I rsynched the whole SF repository locally, 200MB of ChibiOS history.

Giovanni

[steved]

@steved: See what utzig wrote. Exactly my thinking too.
What you describe certainly works but there we are already in the 'annoying to use' part. When you handle your repository the way you explained you would be better of with git because git does all that magic and many more things for you just on a single command.

I have used git a little, and find it very much less intuitive!

Can you tell me what you think is less intuitive with git? After all you need to know exactly three commands to not only get started with GIT but also to do 80% of your work:

• git pull
• git commit
• git push

Not sure how that is less intuitive than the process that you described

Maybe SVN is a tiny bit easier to use than git for beginners (personally I never felt that way but it is a subjective thing) but git saves you from a lot of pain due to just having one remote repository.
I just finished the first year of university and I had to work on two different projects with different people, all of which never programmed in their life before (and therefore didn't know stuff like SVN and GIT either). Some of them installed SourceTree, some used the command line but never the less after five to ten minutes of explanation all of them understood what is going on and during the project time nobody ever had an issue with using it. When I had to introduce a trainee to SVN two years ago it was a lot more pain. Just having one remote repository can make the life of everybody difficult.


~ Tectu

Perhaps part of the difference is that I only use version control systems for "other people's" projects; not my own, so I don't use them enough to become familiar. I started with CVS, and moved to SVN; both had similar concepts at the level I was using them (which did include code contributions). I have also used git a little, and found it more complicated to use - I accept that it would do more; I just haven't needed it!

I don't understand your comment about having one remote repository; SVN allows you to clone a repository (one simple command with Tortoise SVN) and to push the changes back. And personally I prefer the concept of a single 'master' repository for traceability and control. I rarely need to look at update history, so its no great hardship to do that online.

[utzig]

Steve,

For working alone git is even better because you can have your repo locally, so you don't need push/pull, you just use commit and have access to all history, etc. And when you want to you can easily move the repo to some remote server.

But working with other people is where git excels. But I guess you really need branches for that so I would add the checkout/branch commands to the list Tectu has provided previously. But that really doesn't make it a whole lot harder...

Fabio Utzig

[steved]

Steve,

For working alone git is even better because you can have your repo locally, so you don't need push/pull, you just use commit and have access to all history, etc. And when you want to you can easily move the repo to some remote server.

But working with other people is where git excels. But I guess you really need branches for that so I would add the checkout/branch commands to the list Tectu has provided previously. But that really doesn't make it a whole lot harder...

Fabio Utzig

Fabio,
I'd keep the repository on a local server, separate from my 'working' computer, so I imagine the normal rules apply.

I did try and set up a git repo a few years ago, and it was the usual open source documentation shambles of searching all over the place and trying to work out which bits of information were still current - I never did get it going. Hopefully that's improved now; one day I'll have another go.

[Tectu]

I won't say anything more to this. Nobody who worked with SVN before and switched to GIT regrets it. GIT is simpler to use for working alone AND for working together.

I did try and set up a git repo a few years ago, and it was the usual open source documentation shambles of searching all over the place and trying to work out which bits of information were still current - I never did get it going. Hopefully that's improved now; one day I'll have another go.

Just read this and give it a serious chance, please: https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/
Then come back and tell me exactly what is more difficult or more cumbersome than doing the same thing with SVN. Note that that is a generic GIT tutorial using the command line interface. You can use SourceTree if you prefer a visual tool (which I agree, might look scary at the first glance but is really straight forward after you read the tutorial linked above).


~ Tectu

[rew]

Tectu, I fully agree with you. Git is easy. I'm slowly moving outside the "basic commit/push/pull" circle, but the basics remain simple.

I don't get the objections to "there is no central repository".
If you WANT to think of the github repository as the "central repository" you can do that. You modify your local copy, and when you're ready just push to the "central repository". Part of the current "panic" is that some history had to be explicitly backed up when using SF. With git, every local copy already IS a backup including the history.

[steved]

Maybe someone will solve the Sourceforge problem for us: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/28/dice_to_unload_slashdot_and_sourceforge/

[Giovanni]

This could be good news, SF started going bad after Dice acquisition. It all depends on who the next owner will be.

Giovanni

[steved]

I've just completed a fresh download of the Chibios repository from SF, and get an error trying to connect to one of the external repositories, as per attached error message.

Its a long-standing problem; I've got the same message on my machine at home ever since setting up the repository there late last year. But it didn't occur on an older repository for the trunk only.
Don't think I'm missing anything important; just don't like error messages!