

Subversion to enable Git-like features - jameseh
http://subversion.wandisco.com/component/content/article/1/44.html

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jameseh
Yes absolutely - Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Subversion is for
everyone, of course it's not. However the next release will see considerable
improvement for _all_ Subversion users. Who knows, some Git users might even
come back ;)

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acg
This has to be good news, anything that advances commonly used tools improves
software development in general. Whether you like subversion or not.

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cookiecaper
I think you're better off just using Git.

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InclinedPlane
Git is basically the epitome of why linux will never have significant
marketshare on the desktop. Sure, Git is an amazing tool, but its usability is
utterly horrific. And Git's most prominent users tend to be extremely
sophisticated and intelligent software developers who are able to come to
grips with these usability problems quite easily, so their response to those
problems tends to be "get over it, git is great, use it anyway, it's not that
big a deal, quit whining" which is no better than "let them eat cake".

When people use a computer they want usability, they want a GUI (where
relevant), they don't want an ALTAIR front-panel with a bunch of inscrutable
toggles and equally inscrutable lights. This is why Mercurial is so popular
despite being so similar to Git. Until the Git team accept these problems as
real problems and do something about them Git will be relegated to a niche
tool and 10 or 20 years down the road when every dev is using DVCS it won't be
Git it'll be Mercurial or SVN-DVCS or something new.

~~~
jrockway
But Subversion's UI is horrific _and_ its common operations throw away data in
many cases. If Git is the Linux of version control systems, Subversion is the
Windows of version control, and I don't mean that as a compliment. At least
it's _possible_ to get Linux working.

~~~
InclinedPlane
You miss the point. The problem is that you think "Subversion is the Windows
of version control" is an insult. Windows is the world's most prevalent
desktop operating system, by a huge margin. Windows is responsible for around
$4 billion dollars of _profit_ per year for Microsoft. Only a fool dismisses a
fact like that as irrelevant, obviously Windows is doing something right.

Both Git and Linux are very ideologically pure in their design and
construction. This has considerable benefits in some areas (I'm a huge fan of
Linux as a server) but leads to a degree of maniacal zealotry in the developer
and fan-base which ultimately causes the projects to become self-limiting.

I like Linux. I like Git. I think the technology underpinning both is
fantastic. I'd like to see them both succeed. I'm just sad that there are so
many zealots peddling the idea that any flaws (and there are many for Linux on
the desktop and for Git as a tool for every dev in the world) can be swept
under the rug because of the awesomeness of the ideological purity of their
construction.

~~~
cookiecaper
The only reason Microsoft is on the top is its marketshare. People don't want
to know anything about their computers, they just want to watch funny videos
and talk to their friends.

If you sit someone in front of something that doesn't look like Windows, they
flip out. My grandma flips out when we try to show her something on our Linux
computers, she says, "Where's your icons? Why does this look different? This
is crazy."

The sad thing is that a lot of this is Microsoft's fault in the first place.
They've used their marketshare totally irresponsibly. Failings in the design
and implementation of Windows have made users almost universally afraid of
tinkering with their computers because of the possibility of breakages,
viruses, and other unpleasant consequences.

Windows is #1 because of its marketshare and that's it. There may have been
reasons they got to #1 a long time ago, but those are irrelevant now. What's
relevant now is that Windows keeps on trucking because any program or
component you pick up at the store will work on Windows, because everyone uses
Windows, and you wouldn't make any money selling something that Windows can't
work with. Everyone knows how to use Windows; they know to click the Start
button, to click on the blue E, they know where things are. It's just like the
systems they use at work or school.

For most people, the reason they choose Windows is because Windows is
everywhere, and that's it. You won't find many people saying that they want to
use Windows because they love the concept of the Start button. They use
Windows because they know how it works. A few smaller niches use Windows
because a program or a set of programs that are important to them run [well]
on it. Very, very few use Windows because of Windows itself.

So, uh, now that we're done with that tangent, I think the Linux community
recognizes the need for usability. You should read Planet GNOME or Planet KDE
more often; there are frequently posts there about usability studies and
improvements on their software. They are making strides. It's just that
getting cooperation, funding, etc., is an uphill battle when your installed
base is under 2%.

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InclinedPlane
Windows is #1 because Windows is #1? There's certainly something to be said
for network effect, but this particular line of reasoning seems more suitable
to a tautology club meeting - <http://www.xkcd.com/703/>

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cookiecaper
Can you tell me what features of Windows compel the normal user to buy it?
Compatibility doesn't count because generally people will make their wares
compatible with whatever has enough marketshare to seem profitable.

Compatibility and familiarity are features of Windows's ubiquity, not Windows
itself. What other reason does one buy Windows?

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drtse4
Useless announcement, it adds nothing to what was said in the video linked
last week on HN... They should have at least added a proper features list.

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assemble
Some of us don't like getting information from videos, especially at work
where bandwidth and internet usage is monitored....

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mru
Also <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1114804>

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jpcx01
Anyone here still use SVN? Its been so long I barely remember how to spell it.

