Re: The 8th airing of the msysGit herald

[Brandon Casey <casey@nrlssc.navy.mil>]

Tilman Schmidt wrote:
> Am 03.03.2008 13:05 schrieb Johannes Schindelin:
>> On Mon, 3 Mar 2008, Tilman Schmidt wrote:
>>
>>> Jakub Narebski schrieb:
> [...]
>>>> For me the sign how incredibly fast the git development is is the fact
>>>> that git version from a year ago is considered "ancient".
>>> Yes, and that is in itself a problem for people like me who just want to 
>>> use git to get some work done. The time I spend installing new git 
>>> versions, reading RelNotes and sorting through a rather high-volume 
>>> mailing list goes off the time I can spare for working on the Linux 
>>> driver I maintain. :-(
>> Well, you do not _have_ to upgrade, if you are comfortable with what you 
>> have...
> 
> True as far as it goes, and for appropriate values of "what I have".
> Neither do I _have_ to subscribe to the mailing list, or, for that
> matter, to read the release notes of a new version I install.
> 
> But git is not particularly easy to learn on my own, so I end up
> asking for help. (Arguably this qualifies as "not comfortable with
> what I have.") And then "ancient version" translates all too easily
> into "you should upgrade to a newer one".

I think the assumption made was that you were already getting some work
done with the version of git that you had.

If you do not yet have a comfortable grasp of git usage I would suggest
the following steps:

    1) Grab "a" version of git (preferably latest stable version)
	-If you need to compile it, read the "INSTALL" file.
    2) Read intro/tutorials
	-tutorial.txt
	-everyday.txt
	-user-manual.txt (more in-depth)
	These three are mentioned in the git man page.
    3) Start using it
	-refer to man pages to answer questions as you
	 encounter issues
	-ask the mailing list when man pages or other docs
	 are unable to answer your questions
    4) End of story

Upgrading, reading RelNotes, using new features, and reading the high-volume
mailing list are not required, so it is wrong to suggest that they are barriers
to entry for using git.

-brandon