Subject: Re: [PATCH 3/3] Teach "git branch" about --new-workdir

From: Andy Parkins <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:05:43 +0100

On Wednesday 2007 July 25, Johannes Schindelin wrote:

> So this leaves me with the question: do Windows users really want a proper
> native Windows support for Git?  If the answer is yes, why don't they _do_
> (as in "not talk") something about it?

I don't disagree with you at all - it is completely ridiculous for Windows 
users to moan about lack of Windows support without contributing any help.  
However, I think there is a good reason.

I think it's a chicken and egg problem.  The only reason I started making 
(small) contributions to git was because I was using it already.  I didn't 
set out with the goal "to improve git"; I set out looking for a DVCS.  
Luckily for me, I use Linux so git worked pretty well for me straight away.

The same is not true for Windows users.  Even if we ignore the fact that 
Windows users are notoriously less open-source savvy; it's unlikely that 
we'll get any Windows contributions until there are some threshold number of 
developers using git on Windows.

Open-source is all about scratching an itch, I can't see how Windows 
developers can get a gitch to scratch without being users of git first.  On 
the positive side though, there surely must come a point when the Windows 
port is "good enough" that it will start to gather users and hence 
developers.  Until then, I suppose it's just a matter of shouting "patch" 
every time a windows user asks for a feature :-)

Andy
-- 
Dr Andy Parkins, M Eng (hons), MIET
[email-masked]