Re: On the popularity of git [Was: Git question: when using branches, how does git treat working files when changing branches?]

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hello, Paul.

On Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 12:48:44AM -0700, Paul Eggert wrote:
> Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> > I think the real reason is that there are lots of hackers around,
> > possibly mainly the younger ones, who revel in their mastery of
> > complexity rather than attempting to sidestep and avoid it.

> I prefer Git not because it's complicated, but because it's free and reliable 
> and fast and used by hackers that I collaborate with and whose judgment I 
> trust.

But other systems (notably Mercurial) are also free, reliable and fast.
What you seem to be saying is you use git because "everybody" else does.

> I doubt that Git's popularity comes from youngsters wanting to conspicuously 
> display their complexity-mastering skills. My youthful colleagues generally 
> have 
> better things to do.

Have you any theory for why git has become dominant, despite its clear
demerits?

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).