Git
Distributed version control system for tracking changes in source code and other files.
HN commenters praise Git as reliable, powerful version control123 with standout commands like interactive rebase and add -p,456 and use it for writing, data and configs as well as code.789 The most common complaint is a confusing, hard-to-learn command set,101112 and it handles large binary files poorly.1314
Why people recommend it
Powerful commands · 3
Commands like interactive rebase, add -p, worktrees and log -S give users fine-grained control over history and changes.
“imo every dev should work to get some competency with git rebase! it's an amazing tool.”
“Another git command I love using is `git add -p`.”
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“I use git worktrees pretty heavily in my own workflows”
Reliable and proven · 3
Long-time users call it the best version control system they have used, robust and far better than older approaches.
“I love git, it is by far the best version control system I've used in nearly 25+ years.”
“git is still freaking magic.”
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“Git is industry standard, because for what it give you it's a remarkably robust and simple program to use.”
Beyond code · 3
People use it to version resumes, writing, books, data, music and system configuration.
“I tell everyone I work with they should learn it.”
“Putting your writing in version control turns out to buy you a lot of metadata for free.”
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“try out git for your resume! Commits change as you progress in life, and make branches for individually tailored resumes.”
Decentralized hosting · 3
It can be self-hosted over SSH or the filesystem without GitHub, which matches its decentralized design.
“The entire design of git was intended to be decentralized.”
“I moved to self hosting git. Now it’s always up, go figure!”
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“ssh server git --bare init myrepo.git”
Industry standard · 3
Commenters describe it as the most successful version control system and a tool developers are expected to know.
“Git is not invisible to anyone, ever, and it's the most successful version control system ever built, for better or worse.”
“imagine if a potential hire said they were unwilling to use git, would you hire them? We use VCS for a reason”
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“Not having Nix would be like having to work on code without Git — absolutely unacceptable.”
Caveats and dissent
Confusing UX · 3
Critics say the command set is a jungle with leaky abstractions that forces users to learn its internals.
“The most annoying thing about git is its jungle of commands.”
“the first-party tool having horrible UX”
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“a poorly architected product with leaky abstraction all over”
Large binary files · 2
Git is poorly suited to storing large files like PDFs, and Git LFS is described as brittle.
“git is really not well suited for this.”
“I've yet to find a workflow as powerful as my git workflows for managing code”
Overkill for some · 2
Some solo users find it adds friction or few advantages over a simpler local SVN setup.
“For my use case git is just too much extra friction”
“While I love git”
Branching model · 1
One commenter argues Git made branching workflows worse than older branch-based VCSes did.
Often compared with
26 moved from Git to JujutsuOn the home page's Debates
2 moved from Git to FossilMercurial15 comments mention both
2 moved from Mercurial to Git
1 moved from Git to Mercurial
3 moved from Subversion to GitSVN8 comments mention both
1 moved from SVN to Git
1 moved from GitHub to Git
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Git rebase -I is not that scary 6 mentions
- Epic Games announces Lore version control system 6 mentions
- The Git history command deserves more attention 4 mentions
- The creator of Jujutsu has joined ERSC 3 mentions
- Perforce charges $500 for training training videos.. and it's AI narrated 3 mentions
- Local Git Remotes 3 mentions
Also written as git. Data: git.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 47
“vim, ssh, git, scripts for building, and now Claude code”
“try out git for your resume! Commits change as you progress in life, and make branches for individually tailored resumes.”
“no, Claude isn’t going to replace git. Deterministic compute still has a place in software”
“It's so good at providing the right level of abstraction to everyone though”
“While I love git”
“when you started using it, you soon realized how powerful it was.”
“I have worked with both git and Perforce and see the appeal of both.”
“Git did a better job!”
“imagine if a potential hire said they were unwilling to use git, would you hire them? We use VCS for a reason”
“I love and dread how that describes almost to the perfection the sad state of affairs we're at with git.”
“I use git.”
“I use(d) git much more locally, and would never run into this problem because I would only use sha-256 on new repos.”
“Adopt git 3.0 if you can with sha256.”
“use plain git on personal projects”
“you can add a message when stashing: `git stash push -m "trying a thing"`”
“+1 for git log -S.”
“Putting your writing in version control turns out to buy you a lot of metadata for free.”
“settled on git as it's more "standard"”
“git has tools just to make things look pretty even if they can cause serious headaches (rebase)”
“I've yet to find a workflow as powerful as my git workflows for managing code”
“I have no interest in getting a black belt in git magic.”
“I use Git for version control”
“Git can do some amazing stuff, I use it for data as well as code.”
“Git's a train wreck of dumpster fires. But it's still been basically better than everything else since svn.”
“the first-party tool having horrible UX”
“needing to learn the underlying theory of how a tool works that's only a small part of how I do my job is not a good user experience”
“I always end up back in vim with CLI git”
“just do `git rebase -i` interactive rebase at the end to squash them”
“I use CLI tools for Git”
“Works well enough”
“For me this is what I use Git for, even if I have no intention of pushing to a remote repository.”
“I used git to sync it with a usb thumb drive”
“git is still freaking magic.”
“If it can succeed there then it's battle proven for sure”
“therefore: git, some hierarchical plain text format”
“I moved to self hosting git. Now it’s always up, go figure!”
“ssh server git --bare init myrepo.git”
“I use --patch flag”
“Why not go back to basics and start with git? Just git.”
“Agents just turned them from an occasional convenience into something I use every day.”
“Another git command I love using is `git add -p`.”
“imo every dev should work to get some competency with git rebase! it's an amazing tool.”
“I love git, it is by far the best version control system I've used in nearly 25+ years.”
“I am very happy with a simple git tracking approach that I use across Proxmoxes and VMs”
“git is really not well suited for this.”
“The most annoying thing about git is its jungle of commands.”
“Git is industry standard, because for what it give you it's a remarkably robust and simple program to use.”