Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

The list of reasons not to use Git seems as smug as it is uninformed.

> With Git, it is very difficult to find the successors (decendents) of a check-in.

"git log --children" and "git log --reverse" are very difficult indeed.

> Fossil users only need to think about their working directory and the check-in they are working on. That is 60% less distraction.

Since Fossil is a distributed version control system, there is also remote state to keep in mind. I don't know Fossil, so I don't know the details, but simply pretending the remote state does not exist seems at least misleading.

> Setting up a website for a project to use Git requires a lot more software, and a lot more work, than setting up a similar site with an integrated package like Fossil.

Setting up GitLab with Omnibus takes about five minutes. It's not Git itself, but rather a third-party package, but why should I care? (And in general, I wouldn't set up anything at all – I'd just use GitHub or GitLab or Bitbucket for my open-source software.)

It's fine for different people to prefer different tools. Git can be annoying at times. However, it's a blessing that the open-source community is moving towards a standard everyone can work with, and Git is Good Enough to be that standard. Using an obscure alternative and justifying it with a list of downright wrong claims doesn't seem to create a welcoming atmosphere for new contributors.

(And don't get me wrong – SQLite is a great piece of software, and I'm thankful people put in their time to create it.)



I just learned that SQLite doesn't accept any patches, so the argument that Git is the industry standard doesn't matter to them, and they just use what they prefer.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: