{"thread":{"id":"20828","subject":"Git User's Survey 2009 partial summary, part 3 - last 10 questions (incl. getting help)","startedAt":"2009-09-02T21:26:36Z","lastAt":"2009-09-02T21:26:36Z","messageCount":1,"participants":["Jakub Narebski"],"isPatch":false,"patchVersion":null,"patchTotal":null},"messages":[{"id":"122334","messageId":"200909022326.39338.jnareb@gmail.com","threadId":"20828","inReplyTo":null,"subject":"Git User's Survey 2009 partial summary, part 3 - last 10 questions (incl. getting help)","fromName":"Jakub Narebski","fromEmail":"jnareb@gmail.com","sentAt":"2009-09-02T21:26:36Z","receivedAt":"2009-09-02T21:26:36Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"jnareb@gmail.com","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/2706?v=4"},"body":"It is around month and a half since Git User's Survey 2009 was started\n(it was started on 15 July 2009), which is a 3/4 of planned duration\ntime of the survey.\n\nSo I think this is time for third part partial summary of Git User's\nSurvey 2009.  The previous parts can be found at\n  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/124599\n  Subject: Git User's Survey 2009 partial summary, part 1 -\n           - announcing survey, participation\n  Message-Id: <200907312246.12134.jnareb@gmail.com>\nand\n  http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/126153\n  Subject: Git User's Survey 2009 partial summary, part 2 - \n           - from first 10\n  Message-Id: <200908171224.44686.jnareb@gmail.com>\n\nYou can see summary of Git User's Survey 2009 responses (and make your\nown analysis, optionally using provided set of filters) at the\nfollowing URL:\n\n  http://www.survs.com/shareResults?survey=2PIMZGU0&rndm=678J66QRA2\n  http://tinyurl.com/GitSurvey2009Analyze\n\nAfter the survey ends (or earlier, if it is requested) the raw data\nwould be published on GitSurvey2009 page on Git Wiki in CSV and XLS\nformats (like on http://git.or.cz/giwiki/GitSurvey2008).\n\n........................................................\n\nTotal respondents:\t3519\nFirst response:\tJul 15, 2009\nLast response:\tSep 01, 2009 (included in this analysis)\nOpen during:\t56 days\nAverage time:\t44 minutes\n\nWe have currently (status for 1 September 2009) around 3519 responses,\nas compared to 3236 individual responses (including 21 responses in\n'test' channel) for survey in 2008, 683 individual responses in 2007,\nand around 117 responses in 2006.\n\n\n20) Overall, how happy are you with Git? \n    (Choice - Single answer)\n\n===========================================\nAnswer                | resp [%] | resp [n]\n-------------------------------------------\nunhappy               |      1%  |      34\nnot so happy          |      4%  |     140\nhappy                 |     23%  |     758\nvery happy            |     52%  |    1696\ncompletely ecstatic   |     20%  |     650\n----------------------+--------------------\nTotal respondents     |               3278\nSkipped this question |                241\n===========================================\n\nThere were some complaints during planning stage of this year survey\nthat the answers for this question are not symmetric; nevertheless it\nis set of answers that was used in previous survey(s), and it would\nhelp comparing data with previous surveys to keep it as it is now.\n\nMost responders are very happy with Git, and this answer seems to be a\ncenter of responses.  One should take into account that if one is\nunhappy with Git, it is less likely that one would continue using it\n(unless other circumstances would force using it, like the project one\ncontributes to using Git as DVCS of choice), thus less likely to be\nGit user and to participate in this Git User's Survey.  There can be\nbias because it is _Git_ survey; it might be different if it was\ngeneric survey about (distributed) version control systems.\n\n\n21) In your opinion, which areas in Git need improvement? \n    Please state your preference. \n    (Matrix - Rating)\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nArea in Git       | don't need |  a little  |    some    |    much    || Avg.\n==============================================================================\nuser-interface    |  428 - 14% |  882 - 28% | 1055 - 33% |  707 - 22% || 2.59\ndocumentation     |  340 - 11% |  946 - 30% | 1252 - 40% |  551 - 17% || 2.60\nperformance       | 2167 - 69% |  660 - 21% |  174 -  6% |   46 -  1% || 1.33\nmore features     | 1595 - 51% | 1007 - 32% |  360 - 11% |   53 -  2% || 1.55\ntools (e.g. GUI)  |  681 - 22% |  696 - 22% |  934 - 30% |  758 - 24% || 2.51\ni18n[1]           | 2184 - 69% |  398 - 13% |  225 -  7% |   89 -  3% || 1.27\n------------------+-----------------------------------------------------------\nTotal respondents | \t                 3155\nSkipped           | \t                  364\n==============================================================================\n\nFootnotes:\n~~~~~~~~~~\n[1] Originally \"localization (translation)\", shortened to \"i18n\"\n    to reduce line length\n\nGoing by average rating, it is documentation (2.60) and user-interface\n(2.59), and then tools (2.51) that needs improvements.  Areas that\nneeds improvement 'much' are tools (24%), UI (22%) and documentation\n(17%); the same set, different priority.  Areas that needs 'some'\nimprovement are documentation (40%), then UI (33%) and tools (30%).\nAreas that 'don't need' improvements are localization (translations)\nand performance, both with around 69%, then 'more features' with 51%.\n\n\n\n22) Did you participate in previous Git User's Surveys? \n    (Choice - Multiple answers)\n\n=======================================================\nYear                  | resp [%] | resp [n] || in year\n-------------------------------------------------------\nin 2006               |      11% |       88 ||     117\nin 2007               |      30% |      251 ||     683\nin 2008               |      97% |      801 ||    3236\n----------------------+--------------------------------\nTotal respondents     |                 823\nSkipped this question |                2696\n=======================================================\n\n\"In year\" column refers to number of replies (number of responses) in\nthe Git User's Survey for given year.  The percentage is calculated\nrelative to number of replies in this question, not to the total\nnumber of responders.\n\n======================================================\nYear                  | resp   | resp      || in year\n                      | / 3519 | / in year ||\n------------------------------------------------------\nin 2006               |   2.5% |     75.2% ||     117\nin 2007               |   7.1% |     36.8% ||     683\nin 2008               |  22.8% |     24.8% ||    3236\n======================================================\n\nWithout further analysis (and the data that we don't have) we can only\nassume that 2006 survey (narrowly announced) was answered mainly by\nhard-core Git users and contributors, which follow Git announcements\nand participate in surveys.\n\nNote that 2008 (previous) and 2009 (this one) surveys were announced\nin slightly different ways: 2008 was announced on git mailing lists,\n2009 was announced on blogs and hosting sites.\n\nIf you want to try to do further analysis, there are filters for this\nanswers one can use to analyze survey responses.\n\n\n23) How do you compare the current version with the version\n    from one year ago? \n    (Choice - Single answer)\n\n[FYI There is list of changes from year ago in the survey text]\n\n===========================================\nAnswer                | resp [%] | resp [n]\n-------------------------------------------\nbetter                |     50%  |    1385\nno changes            |      8%  |     228\nworse                 |      0%  |      10\ncannot say            |     42%  |    1162\n----------------------+--------------------\nTotal respondents     |               2785\nSkipped this question |                734\n===========================================\n\nMost people (50%) think that Git improved since year ago; very few \n(10 in 2785) think it is worse... but almost as many 'cannot say' (42%) \nif it is better than year ago.\n\nIf we take 'cannot say' as indication that responder didn't use Git a\nyear ago, and that is the reason they cannot do comparison, it seems\nthat there are many new Git users participating in this survey.\n\n\n24) How useful have you found the following forms of Git documentation?\n    (Matrix - One answer per row)\n\n======================================================================\nDocumentation     | never used | not useful |  somewhat  | is useful\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\nGit Wiki          | 1138 - 36% |  135 -  4% | 1174 - 37% |  652 - 21%\non-line help      |  404 - 13% |  100 -  3% | 1283 - 40% | 1351 - 43%\nhelp in git       |  249 -  8% |  199 -  6% | 1126 - 36% | 1560 - 49%\n------------------+---------------------------------------------------\nTotal respondents |                                              3169\nSkipped           |                                               350\n======================================================================\n\nLeast used form of documentation is Git Wiki (http://git.or.cz/gitwiki)\nwith 36% responders never using it, but those that use it feel that it\nis somewhat useful to useful.\n\nBoth help distributed with Git (manpages, Git User's Manual, HOWTOs,\netc.) and on-line help (including but not limited to Git Community\nBook, and tutorials and guides on Git homepage) are almost the same\nuseful, with help included in Git felt to be more useful than on-line\nhelp (49% vs 43% is useful, 36% vs 40% only somewhat).\n\n\n25) Have you tried to get help regarding Git from other people?\n    (Choice - Single answer)\n\nThis question, and questions following it were meant to be about\ngetting help from other people, rather than trying to find help by\nself.  From the set of \"other (please specify)\" answers for \"help\nchannel\" (which include among others many instances of \"Google search\"\nor equivalent) it looks like it was not entirely clean.\n\n===========================================\nAnswer                | resp [%] | resp [n]\n-------------------------------------------\nYes                   |     65%  |    2082\nNo                    |     35%  |    1121\n----------------------+--------------------\nTotal respondents     |               3203\nSkipped this question |                316\n===========================================\n\nAs you can see 2/3 responders tried to get help regarding Git from\nother people.\n\n\n26) If yes, did you get these problems resolved quickly\n    and to your liking?\n    (Choice - Single answer)\n\n===========================================\nAnswer                | resp [%] | resp [n]\n-------------------------------------------\nYes                   |     63%  |    1349\nNo                    |      6%  |     122\nSomewhat              |     32%  |     686\n----------------------+--------------------\nTotal respondents     |        2157 / 2082\nSkipped this question |        1362\n===========================================\n\nConsistency check: 2082 people answered that they tried to get help\nabout Git from other people, but we have 2157 responses in this\nquestion...\n\nIt looks like we have good community surrounding Git, if 2/3 Git\nquestions are resolved quickly and accurately, and only 6% couldn't\nget quick and to their liking response.\n\n\n27) What channel(s) did you use to request help? \n    (Choice - Multiple answers)\n\n==============================================================\nChannel                                 | resp [%] | resp [n]\n--------------------------------------------------------------\ngit mailing list (git@vger.kernel.org)  |     12%  |     261\n\"Git for Human Beings\" Google Group     |      2%  |      48\nIRC (#git)                              |     31%  |     668\nIRC (other, e.g. #github)               |     10%  |     221\nrequest in blog post or on wiki[1]      |      8%  |     176\nasking git guru/colleague               |     58%  |    1248\nproject mailing list, or IRC, or forum  |     19%  |     416\nTwitter or other microblogging platform |     12%  |     267\ninstant messaging (IM) like XMPP/Jabber |     19%  |     413\nStackOverflow[2]                        |     17%  |     367\n........................................|.....................\nother (please specify)                  |      7%  |     154\n--------------------------------------------------------------\nTotal respondents                       |     2148 / 2082\nRespondents who skipped this question   |     1371\n==============================================================\n\nFootnotes:\n~~~~~~~~~~\n[1] Here I mainly meant asking a question on one's blog, and waiting\n    for response in comments, like e.g.\n      http://jjnapiorkowski.vox.com/library/post/migrating-to-git-from-subversion.html\n    or asking on Git Wiki (as if it was help forum), or on Talk page\n    of some other wiki (no example).\n[2] StackOverflow is a community driven programming-related Q&A site\n      http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/git\n\nMost used 'channel' is to simply ask somebody better versed in Git\npersonally (58%), then is #git channel with usually fast real-time\nresponse (31%).  Git mailing list has only 12% of replies, below\n(quite new) forums and project mailing lists (19% - wide category),\ninstant messaging (19%), and quite new StackOverflow (17%), and very\nsimilar to microblogging platforms such as Twitter or Identi.ca (also\n12%).\n\n\"Git for Human Beings\" Google Group is rarely used, with only 2% of\nresponses...\n\nAs for \"other (please specify)\" response: \n* There are some responses (\"Internet search\", \"Google\", a book) that\n  show that it was not entirely clear that the question was about\n  asking _other people_ for help regarding Git, not searching for help\n  oneself.\n* Some responses (e.g. \"colleagues\") were variant of provided channel.\n* Some responses were more detailed specification (description) of\n  channel used; examples include \"#dri-devel on freenode\", \n  \"Rick (friend)\", \"IRC (channel of project using git)\", \n  \"Rotating my chair and asking\", etc.\n* And there were channels that were not included in the list of\n  provided answers (some because channel is rare, some because I\n  didn't think of such channel):\n   - GitHub mailing list / GitHub Google Group\n   - asking a guy who gave a talk about git at a conference\n   - messages through GitHub\n   - private email\n   - direct email with tutorial author\n   - msysGit mailing list / msysGit Google Group\n   - Server Fault (but Stack Overflow is on list)\n   - Specialists at the work office\n\nPerhaps this question should be about all kinds of getting help, not\nonly about requesting (asking for) Git-related help?  What do you\nthink?\n\n\nWhen doing this analysis I have realized that we have survey question\nabout _requesting help_, but we don't have question about _providing\nhelp_.  Do you participate in Git mailing list?  Are you present on\n#git channel on FreeNode (or other IRC channel) and reply to\nquestions?  Or perhaps you are editing Git Wiki (or at least remove\nspam)?  Do you post responses (answers) to questions tagged [git] on\nStack Overflow (and Server Fault and Superuser)?  Are you considered\nto be Git guru and/or go-to guy in questions related to Git by your\ncolleagues or/and co-workers?\n\nThe next question is a bit related, but is only about using specified\nchannels, which can include providing help in given channel, but\ndoesn't need to.\n\n\n28) Which communication channel(s) do you use? \n    Do you read the mailing list, or watch IRC channel?\n    (Choice - Multiple answers)\n\n==============================================================\nChannel                                 | resp [%] | resp [n]\n--------------------------------------------------------------\ngit@vger.kernel.org (main)              |     42%  |     368\nGit for Human Beings (Google Group)     |      7%  |      64\nmsysGit                                 |     10%  |      89\n#git IRC channel                        |     54%  |     473\n#github or #gitorious IRC channel       |     22%  |     188\n#revctrl IRC channel                    |      0%  |       4\n--------------------------------------------------------------\nTotal respondents                       |                868\nRespondents who skipped this question   |               2651\n==============================================================\n\nNote that percentage is relative to the (small) number of replies to\nthis question, not relative to the number of all responders.\n\nAmong listed channels, most commonly used are #git IRC channel on\nFreeNode with 54%, and git mailing list (git@vger,kernel.org) with\n42%.  Third is #github and #gitorious IRC channels together, with 22%\nor replies to this question.\n\n-- \nJakub Narebski\n\nGit User's Survey will last till 15 September\nhttp://tinyurl.comGitSurvey2009\n"}]}