Ok, ok, I was a bit over the top in my last post. I tried to spread the rant over multiple VCS, but it sounded like I was picking on Git. And I kind of was.

Git. Oh, Dear.

I am sure Git is a very powerful tool. It is a tool created to solve problems that I do not have: huge, multi-committer Open Source projects.

And what happens when you give a very advanced tool, which, let’s face it, does not do the best to dumb itself down for beginners, to someone that does not need all its potential?
They feel overwhelmed. They reject it. They feel stupid. And they might end up ditching up the tool altogether.

I will survive

But I want to think I am different. Instead of ranting… Ooops, too late… ok, after ranting a bit I wanted to learn from my reaction.

So instead of after the completely rational and understandable “I do not need this sh#t! Off my lawn, punk!” I analyzed the why. The reason is pretty obvious and not one easy to digest: despite what other people might say, Git is not that easy. I know, I know, stupid user that does not read the manual. I really do not care. Documentation is great and complete and yadi yadi yada.

I do not have to need documentation. I really do not have to read it in this days and age.
My problems are simple. No matter how powerful the tool is, simple problems need to be simple to solve. And complex problems need to be slightly less simple to solve. If that is not the case, the tool is failing. Period.

Or… There is a chance that I chose the wrong tool  .

Since that is surely not possible, it seems I need to learn more about Git before bashing it.

Learning from failure

But I want to use Git! Every cool kid is using it. And they are happy. And they look smart. And they can punch arcane commands that solve their problems. And they laugh at people that do not know how to solve problems they do not have. And I hate to be mocked!

So I will combat fire with fire. I will make them pay. I will RTFM. And I will memorize it. And then, we will have a command line fight a-la Monkey Island insult duels. And I will prove my point by turning into one of them. Working undercover.
But I promise it won’t change me. I will be the same. I will not despise those-who-do-not-know-the-CLI.

That sounds like a lot of work. I will start by spending my Sunday afternoon off the telly and enjoying Git Immersion. Totally worth it. Well written and meaningful for us, mere apprentices. Isn’t community great?

One step closer to enlightenment.