[ImageJ-devel] Git vs. Subversion

[Johannes Schindelin]

Hi,

On Wed, 1 Sep 2010, Curtis Rueden wrote:

> In conclusion, I am frankly frustrated with Git, and feel SVN would be 
> an easier choice for both our own development team as well as the larger 
> ImageJ community.

If you're frustrated with Git, then it is certainly advisable to switch 
away from it. An SCM should help you develop things, not distract from it.

> However, I welcome discussion, as there are certainly downsides to 
> switching away from Git.

Not so many as you think: inclined developers can always use git-svn.

However, you should make sure to uphold the discipline _not_ to commit 
huge chunks of unreviewably large changes.

This is the curse of Subversion: it is hard to polish patch series until 
they shine. The dear consequence is often that you get a commit history 
that is unreviewable. And what is unreviewable is not reviewed properly.

For example, I would _positively_ hate it if I saw a single monster commit 
adding the abstract plugin infrastructure. Remember: there are patches so 
small and sweet that there are no obvious programming mistakes. And there 
are patches so clunky and heavy and ugly that there are no obvious 
programming mistakes.

Ciao,
Dscho