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Re: git lock files (Was: GIT for Microsoft Access projects)

From
KKKonstantin Khomoutov <kostix+git@007spb.ru>
Date
Jun 9, 2015, 18:50 UTC
Message-ID
<20150609215059.dcbacca5d9fa3f7eb1683cb9@domain007.com>
In-Reply-To
<20150609132144.ANWJW.73271.root@txifep04>

On Tue, 9 Jun 2015 13:21:44 -0500 <hackerp@suddenlink.net> wrote:

Show 7 quoted lines
> Thanks folks, I am digesting all you have said.
> 
> Now the command line I can do (I'm a programmer) but the secretary
> here I doubt.
> 
> So is there at GUI interface for this? Does it work on Windows
> systems?

That's why I asked whether the thing you do really want is a document management system, not a version control system.

Yes, Git works on Windows thanks to folks behind the Git for Windows project (often and errorneously called "msysGit" in the internets) and yes there do exist mature Windows GUI front-ends to it, with TortoiseGit and Git Extensions being supposedly the most visible picks.

But there's such thing as an irreducible complexity: while these tools strive to be user-friendly, and TortoiseGit even tries to make you think you're using Subversion rather than Git, they won't hide all the underlying complexity of a DVCS tool, which Git is, from the user.

So... I bet for your random user, it would be much easier to switch to the browser window and upload another version of their document there, with a short note describing what they do and why. This is how a typical DMS works. You won't get all that awesomness Git gives you to fiddle with your source code files but in return you'll get a system which requires next to zero training for any layman to use it.

Please rememeber about [1]. Many of the statements that post does are outdated but its essense remains to be true when it comes to handing off Git to users not possessing ninja-level computer skills. I especially recommend to think through this particular passage:

| They often struggle to use version control at all; are you now going
| to teach them the difference between “pull” and “update”, between
| “commit” and “push”? Look me in the eyes and say that with a straight
| face.

I also wonder how do you intend to explain them why they can't push because someone else had just did that, and what to do about this, and why. (And whose version should win, in the end, as the files you intend to work with are not subject for merging in the usual sense of this word -- when it comes to plain text files.)

1. http://blog.red-bean.com/sussman/?p=79
Previous: hackerp@suddenlink.netNext: Stefan Beller
Message 7 of 12 in “GIT for Microsoft Access projects”
  1. hackerp@suddenlink.netJun 8, 2015
  2. Konstantin KhomoutovJun 8, 2015
  3. Randall S. BeckerJun 8, 2015
  4. Sitaram ChamartyJun 9, 2015
  5. git lock files (Was: GIT for Microsoft Access projects)Stefan Beller, Jun 9, 2015
  6. hackerp@suddenlink.netJun 9, 2015
  7. Konstantin KhomoutovJun 9, 2015
  8. Stefan BellerJun 9, 2015
  9. Fredrik GustafssonJun 10, 2015
  10. Stefan BellerJun 10, 2015
  11. Junio C HamanoJun 10, 2015
  12. Thomas KochJun 15, 2015

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