
Zero-configuration submodules with auto-update in Gitbox - oleganza
http://gitboxapp.com/?submodules
======
oleganza
The coolest feature is that you can pull, checkout a commit or reset a branch
and submodules will be updated automatically no questions asked. Unless, of
course, you've been working on them and they are not in a clean state. This
makes debugging much easier as you jump through commits with just a single
click.

I don't understand why everybody else is adding a lot of options and
preferences even to the simplest functions like pull/push to their Git
clients. In Gitbox you only configure URLs and then just interact with the
same UI without jumping to extra windows all the time.

~~~
falling
Oleg, your vision is exactly what I like about Gitbox. Git is a toolbox to
create your own VCS, Gitbox takes a stance and uses those tools to define a
usage model, without tying itself to tradition.

It doesn't work for hardcore users and even I sometimes fall back (cringing)
to the CLI, but I really appreciate it.

Feature request: easier way to switch local and remote branches with the
keyboard. Currently I use Cmd-Shift-? to get to the menu.

------
moe
Nothing against gitbox but I find it a bit of a tragedy that they can
advertise with making submodules bearable in first place.

This stuff really needs an overhaul in core-git. The CLI experience is indeed
so terrible that most people avoid submodules altogether.

~~~
oleganza
My personal problem with git was inherent inefficiency of CLI. E.g. I was
typing "gs" to see the status almost after every little command. In Gitbox you
just _see_ the status. Similar thing with submodules: you need to get in and
out, verify the status of a submodule and its parent. In Gitbox you just see
the whole picture and click a single button to do something useful.

My question is not to git CLI guys (they are doing great job, by the way), but
to others like Tower and SourceTree: why in the world they complicate things
so much? If one needs a very flexible/configurable environment, git CLI is
just fine.

~~~
moe
To me the CLI is about fine. It's just the submodules that are poorly executed
and break all sorts of expectations.

The mini-primer on submodule-WTFs: "must be executed in root-directory", no
auto-clone/update of submodules, incomplete info about submodules in status-
commands, manual maintenance of .gitmodules, a wide range of
irritating/misleading failure modes and error messages...

It's really no surprise you hardly ever see a submodule on e.g. github, even
on projects where it would make sense. The maintenance headache usually
dwarves all potential benefits.

------
po
If I remember correctly, last time I tried gitbox, I couldn't use it for more
than a few minutes because it showed commits as a linear history. I understand
that they want to hide complexity, but that's exactly the complexity I need to
see and understand. I need a tree-based view like gitx or the github network
view to keep track of what's going on with my team. That along with line-by-
line staging of commits are the killer features for me.

I still use the original version of gitx because it is simple as possible but
still has these two features.

------
nestlequ1k
nice. would love to use gitbox but it lacks the most basic functionality of
gitx. easy inline browsing of staged changes / diffs

you have to click on every file to open up a diff in order to preview changes
before checkin

