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Re:Mercurial developer responds to "Switch to git?" by gkoberger on Sunday November 17, 2013 @08:32PM (#6751993)
Taking your logic a bit further: the final product is what we (should be) interested in. Python or C++ or LaTeX or whatever are just to help us make it. Everything else, whether it be Python or git or C++ or Mecurial or vim or Windows or an ergonomical mouse, is just there to help us make the final product in an easy and quality manner.

I don't see a problem with worrying about git any more than I see one with worrying about Python. Change for the sake of change is bad, but change for the sake of an improved workflow is good.

Re:Mercurial developer responds to "Switch to git?" by ggchappell on Sunday November 17, 2013 @09:04PM (#6752097)
That's an interesting point. Here are my off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts:

I guess the real goal is proper separation of responsibilities. When I cook a meal, I use devices that run on electricity. I want to be able to power them up by plugging them in without thinking much about it. The people who work at my power company need to think about the intricacies of generating and transmitting electricity, but I don't want to. On the other end, the people who eat the food I cook should not have to worry about the use of a stove timer or a rice cooker.

Similarly, when I put together a software package, I am functioning as a programmer/software designer. I am interested in the code, how it is structured, and what it is supposed to do. Time spent worrying about storage & version management is generally time spent away from my primary task. Someone needs to worry about that, but, for the most part, I don't think it should be me.

The users of the package I write just want to use it. They care that it does what they want. The fact that it is written in Python, developed using agile methods, etc. are irrelevant to them. (But not to me, as a programmer.)

And maybe for the users, the software is a tool to help them in their business. The customers of that business probably should not care about the software at all; they just want whatever service the business provides.

Re:Mercurial developer responds to "Switch to git?" by jlgreco on Sunday November 17, 2013 @09:12PM (#6752122)
Even when powering electronics in the home, you have to worry about which sort of power the device needs. Does it need a great big 240V AC outlet, or just the regular 120V AC (using American values...)? Is the device DC powered instead? Does it have it's own wall-wart, or can you use a AC->USB converter? Does it use USB micro or mini?

These are things the consumer has to worry about. Of course in practice "worry about" is an exaggeration; this is all pretty elementary stuff and no reasonably intelligent consumer actually loses sleep over it.

The matter of what version control to use? The consumer never has to worry about that. That concern is something that only developers (and related professionals) will have to worry about. I don't think it is a big deal. Just pick whatever fits your needs and that you prefer.

Should the developer have to know anything about version control? I don't know, should the electrical have to know anything about multimeters, outlet testers, and wire cutters?

Re:Mercurial developer responds to "Switch to git?" by thaumasiotes on Monday November 18, 2013 @12:37AM (#6752777)
> Even when powering electronics in the home, you have to worry about which sort of power the device needs. Does it need a great big 240V AC outlet, or just the regular 120V AC (using American values...)?

This isn't accurate as to the electronics that I use. All the adapters say "input 120 - 240V". Non-portable electronics tend to be compatible with the plugs in the same area where you buy them... since they're not portable.

Re:Mercurial developer responds to "Switch to git?" by cnvogel on Monday November 18, 2013 @07:03AM (#6753906)
The parent comment didn't refer to the 120V / 240V distinction because of the voltage itself, but rather refers to two distinct kinds of electrical sockets.

120V = NMEA-5, 240V = NMEA-6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector

When you install a washing machine (or, for example a circular saw in your workshop) you'll have to make sure that the proper socket is available at the place where you want to put it (or you'll have to install one at that location).

In Europe, the corresponding comparison would be between 1-phase (230V) power and 3-phase (400V) power, e.g. normal household socket and the red, round 5-prong CEE connectors.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/CEE-System

Re:Mercurial developer responds to "Switch to git?" by qznc on Monday November 18, 2013 @02:12AM (#6753058)
In larger teams you can assign merging and conflict resolution to specialists. For example, Linus Torvalds does pretty much exactly this special role (merging stuff from separate departments) all day long and git is excellent at this.

The interesting question is, how much can you automate? Git is the "very little" department, because Linus prefers a deterministic and simple process to an easy, but less reliable one.

Re:Mercurial developer responds to "Switch to git?" by pjmlp on Monday November 18, 2013 @02:20AM (#6753076)
> Taking your logic a bit further: the final product is what we (should be) interested in. Python or C++ or LaTeX or whatever are just to help us make it. Everything else, whether it be Python or git or C++ or Mecurial or vim or Windows or an ergonomical mouse, is just there to help us make the final product in an easy and quality manner.

This is my mindset. I do have my preferences, but it is all about what technologies our customers require.

So I tend to say I am language and OS agnostic.

The hard lesson about this came from the time I was still trying to get into the game industry and was spending more time thinking about FOSS technologies for game development, than the game design itself. After getting a foot into the industry, it became clear to me that what matters is getting a game released, the technology religion has no place.

So nowadays I always advocate the goal is to have a project done and solve the customer problems. The technology used for it is secondary.