Three things I've noticed as a manager of several developers who use or don't use GUI's for git: Pre-commit self code review tends much better with a GUI or at least a good git-aware diff program, leading to higher code quality. Visualization of branches, merges, etc. is much easier with a GUI. Complex merges with conflicts, partial commits, etc. tend to be easier with a GUI like tower.

Being able to do basic things on the command line is definitely nice. And the question is not command line VERSUS a GUI. Tower, e.g. can be used side-by-side with the command line.

However, Tower help you both become more productive and make fewer mistakes. No one likes to inspect a complex project history on the command line. Getting a visual representation of a conflict helps you resolve it more confidently. Automatically having local changes stashed away prevents problems... There are indeed many scenarios where a GUI is plain helpful - for beginners and pros alike.

>Getting a visual representation of a conflict helps you resolve it more confidently.

You can launch e.g. kdiff3 when necessary to resolve conflicts visually without using a GUI git clint.

I don't see $60 of value over a few customized git aliases. The 'easy visualizations' in a GUI can be just as easily teased out with .gitconfig snippets:

> lg = log --graph --pretty=format:'%Cred%h%Creset -%C(yellow)%d%Creset %s %Cgreen(%cr) %C(bold blue)<%an>%Creset' --abbrev-commit --date=relative

I learned git form the command line and it's still my go-to, but sometimes it's nice to have a higher level view of where you are in the repo, both the current commit and tree generally. Especially if I'm working through a big commit or merge, it's nice to see where I am in conflict resolution, etc.

Oh, or try staging parts of a file on the command line... http://git-tower.com/help/mac/working-copy/stage-changes

git add -p, although its main problem is that you can only select chunks, not separate lines. Actually I see that Tower has that same issue. IIRC Github for Mac allows you to select individual lines, even in the same chunk.

> git add -p, although its main problem is that you can only select chunks, not separate lines.

Typing "e" will let you edit the chunk. Then you can get as fine grained as you like.

Personally, I use Emacs and commit-patch [1].

[1] http://porkrind.org/commit-patch

you can select individual lines in Tower, as well.

I know my way around the git command line, but it is a timesaver for me when I do merges and partial commits.

Sure. I like SourceTree's git-flow support when I've worked on projects that used it. Most of the time I use Gitbox, which is super simple and fast and nicely integrates with Kaleidoscope.

Diffs are easier to manage