From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jakub Narebski Subject: [RFC] Git User's Survey 2010 (resend) Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2010 21:58:55 +0200 Message-ID: <201007032158.57700.jnareb@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-2" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: git@vger.kernel.org X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Sat Jul 03 21:59:23 2010 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git-2@lo.gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.180.67]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1OV8ry-0002z6-8D for gcvg-git-2@lo.gmane.org; Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:59:23 +0200 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1751961Ab0GCT7Q (ORCPT ); Sat, 3 Jul 2010 15:59:16 -0400 Received: from mail-fx0-f46.google.com ([209.85.161.46]:56417 "EHLO mail-fx0-f46.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1750819Ab0GCT7P (ORCPT ); Sat, 3 Jul 2010 15:59:15 -0400 Received: by fxm14 with SMTP id 14so2980560fxm.19 for ; Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:59:13 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:from:to:subject:date :user-agent:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding :content-disposition:message-id; bh=jI9/QQh9j6ix3ETMrOZoVoXY9pNqY2Hc3ObgG+P7z+s=; b=Wa1Nn55Zyq/+ywr+IW8oe7gx8c5+n2vVTG3Fc3351UXEMvEomffUgo5/eCzGXN+JRF T4vzd9FOvXHeLeumCwqyxEbjYzi0od4bn5fsIheyNKdxCQXYPeAADEsQo3zDqoH511Eq w78+nsj3co95w6PjQKLlVICKaNmG2HtWYIwHI= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=from:to:subject:date:user-agent:mime-version:content-type :content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:message-id; b=Kd/LPt4BrtVtFFTIYm0TWQBnc3YoaSwQ5u0sos3PBvBQDJTb86gsAe1/o3/dqUOnnV 4cAw1AhjnTxMiYKumJaVv5kwuMfcewOIcxVpf/xgFPryEW4LHtzDW8PwSSBlEKUPSCjK /kUh47S9bwrxFRhnHtOiMbZ9YVoFJIqwcWMlg= Received: by 10.86.31.5 with SMTP id e5mr544424fge.28.1278187153588; Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:59:13 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [192.168.1.15] (abwj153.neoplus.adsl.tpnet.pl [83.8.233.153]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id 24sm3826298far.36.2010.07.03.12.59.07 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=RC4-MD5); Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:59:12 -0700 (PDT) User-Agent: KMail/1.9.3 Content-Disposition: inline Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: I'm sorry for broken (badly wrapped) previous version... ---- I guess it is time for annual (so far) Git User's Survey. Should there be one? When should it start, and how long should it last? here is how it was for previous surveys: * 2009 was open from 15 July to 15 September 2009 (for 2 months) * 2008 was open from 31 August to 14 October 2008 (for 1.5 months) * 2007 was open from 20 August to 10 September 2007 (for 20 days) (officially: results are up until 28 September 2007) * 2006 was open from 23 July to 6-12 September 2006 (for a bit less than 2 months) With more that 3000 responses in 2008 and 2009 survey, analysing free-form data was hard. That is why in this proposal there is only single one free-form response (about missing features). What questions (and with what proposed answers) shound there be in this year survey? Below there is the content of the proposed survey: = Git User's Survey 2010 (proposal) = == About you == NOTES: ^^^^^^ This section gives us a bit of demographical information about survey responders. Is it useful? Should we leave it in survey, or remove it? Should we for example include 'gender' as one of questions? Perl Survey 2010 did. === 01. What country do you live in? === (Country of residence) (free-form single line) NOTES: ^^^^^^ Perhaps a better solution would be a menu (drop-down list) of countries, using list of current countries. It would be more work to create it, but might reduce ambiguities and unparsable responses. What I'd like to have is to pre-fill / select default answer based on GeoIP. Even better would be to be able to show current position on Google Map, like contributors and users map on Ohloh... but that I think is simply not possible with Survs.com, the site to be used for this survey (and I guess neither with any other survey site). One can dream. Pel Survey 2010 also included (from what I remember, and from provided data and analysis of survey) also country of origin / country of birth, to measure mobility. I wonder if it would make sense to have the same for Git User's Survey 2010... Note that it would be harder to come up with the list of countries for such question, because the country might no longer exists. Therefore the list (if present) should be based on all countries that exist or existed since 100 years ago (or so). === 02. How old are you (in years)? === (free-form single line) NOTES: ^^^^^^ Instead of unconstrained free-form response it might be better to have single choice (or menu) of age ranges. What do you think? Of course with ranges there is question what ranges to use (how to quantize age); goo solution would be to chose ranges corresponding somewhat to the levels of education. == Getting started with Git == === 03. Have you found Git easy to learn? === (single choice) * Very easy * Easy * Reasonably easy * Hard * Very hard === 04. Have you found Git easy to use? === (single choice) * Very easy * Easy * Reasonably easy * Hard * Very hard NOTES: ^^^^^^ Those two questions, considered alone, doesn't tell us much. If one use git, then usually one does not think it is too hard to use (unless forced to use git by external circumstances, like project he/she works on using git). On the other hand those two questions together give us some mesaure of git learning curve, telling us if people consider git easy to use but hard to learn, or vice versa ;-) I think it might be also good to have to calculate correlations, e.g. if people who find git hard to use make use of its advanced features. The question is: should they stay, or should they go? === 05. Which Git version(s) are you using? === (multiple choice, with other) + pre 1.3 + 1.3.x + 1.4.x + 1.5.x + 1.6.x + 1.7.x + minor (maintenance) release 1.x.y.z + 'master' branch of official git repository + 'next' branch of official git repository + 'pu' branch of official git repository + version from msysGit / Git for Windows fork repository + git-bigfiles fork + JGit implementation (e.g. via Eclipse plugin, EGit) + other, please specify NOTES: ^^^^^^ A few of possible answers are new in this version of survey, namely 'pu', msysGit, git-bigfiles, JGit, and of course 1.7.x. This question is here to stay. === 06. Rate your own proficiency with Git: === (single choice) * 1. novice * 2. casual, needs advice * 3. everyday use * 4. can offer advice * 5. know it very well NOTES: ^^^^^^ This question tell us penetration of announcements of Git User's Survey 2010; did we get to all, or only to git gurus? It is also useful for correlating with other responses, for example to know which features are used by novices, and which by gurus. == How you use Git == === 07. I use Git for (check all that apply): === (multiple choice, with other) Note that above choices are neither orthogonal nor exclusive. One might want to check multiple answers even for a single repository. NOTES: ^^^^^^ Answers to this question probe different direction. This list is interspersed with comments about specific (sub)sections. + work projects + unpaid projects Notes: ^^^^^^ Those two are about using git at work vs using git on your own free time. There are of course shades of gray, like using git for work project unofficially (e.g.using git-svn as "fat" client for company's Subversion repository), or employer allowing to work on non-work OSS project during working hours. But I'm not sure if they are worth adding. + proprietary projects + OSS development (also public domain, and published & unlicensed) + private (unpublished) Notes: ^^^^^^ Those three are about licensing: proprietary / free (open) / unlicensed. By 'OSS development' I mean here also free licenses for documentation and documents, like GFDL or Creative Commons licenses. + code (programming) + personal data + documents (data) + static website + web app + large (> 1MB) binary files + often changing binary files Notes: ^^^^^^ This is about what kind of data do you store in git. I am a bit unsure whether it is worth separating 'web app'; it is 'code'. New in this edition of survey is 'large binary data' and 'often changing binary files'... but should 'large' cutoff be 1MB, or 10MB, or 50MB, or 100MB? I'm not sure about having 'personal data'... + sharing data or sync + managing configuration files + backup + backend for wiki, blog, or other web app + frontend to other SCM (e.g. git-svn) Notes: ^^^^^^ This is about (ab)using git for other things than straighforward source control management. List of possible answers specified here should cover most commonly encountered usages: shdoul we add anything else here? + other (please specify) === 08. How do/did you obtain Git (install and/or upgrade)? === (multiple choice, with other) Note that this question is multiple choices question because one can install Git in different ways on different machines or on different operating systems. + binary package + source package or script + source tarball + pull from (main) repository + preinstalled / sysadmin job + other - please specify Description: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Explanation: "binary package" covers pre-compiled binary (e.g. from rpm or deb binary packages); "source package" covers things like deb-src and SRPMS / *.src.rpm; "source script" is meant to cover installation in source-based distributions, like 'emerge' in Gentoo. Automatic update (apt, yum, etc.) in most cases means binary package install; unless one uses source-based distribution like Gentoo, CRUX, or SourceMage, where automatic update means using source package (or source script). The option named "preinstalled / sysadmin job" means that either you didn't need to install git because it was preinstalled (and you didn't upgrade); or that you have to ask system administrator to have git installed or upgraded. Note that this question is multiple choices question because one can install Git in different ways on different machines or on different operating systems. NOTES: ^^^^^^ What I didn't take into account in above explanation is operating systems with packaging systems different that the one used by various Linux distributions. In short: if to have git installed you compile it, you use source package or source tarball. If the installation onvolves anything more than 'make install' (or manual copying), then it is most probably source package or script. This for example means that "msysGit" installer is source package, and "Git for Windows" is binary package, if I understand it correctly. === 09. On which operating system(s) do you use Git? === (multiple choice, with other) + Linux (includes MeeGo and Moblin) + MacOS X (Darwin) + MS Windows/msysGit (MINGW) + MS Windows/Cygwin + FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, etc. + other Unix + iPhone OS + Android + WebOS + Other, please specify NOTES: ^^^^^^ The iPhone OS, Androind and WebOS answers are new this year. OpenSolaris died, so I removed it. I wonder if it is worth it to differentiate between MS Windows/msysGit and MS Windows/Cygwin, or if we should just have one, single 'MS Windows' choice. === 10. What do you use to edit contents under version control with Git? === What kind of editor, IDE or RAD you use working with Git? (multiple choice, with other) + simple text editor + programmers editor + IDE or RAD + WYSIWYG tool + other kind Description: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ * "simple text editor" option includes editors such as pico, nano, joe, Notepad, * "programmets editor" option includes editors such as Emacs/XEmacs, Vim, TextMate, SciTE (syntax highlighting, autoindentation, integration with other programmers tools, etc.) * "IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and RAD (Rapid Application Development)" option includes tools such as Eclipse, NetBeans IDE, IntelliJ IDE, MS Visual Studio, KDevelop, Anjuta, Xcode, Code::Blocks but also tools such as Quanta+, BlueFish or Screem (for editing HTML, CSS, PHP etc.), and Kile or LEd for LaTeX. * "WYSIWYG tools" option includes word processors such as MS Office or OpenOffice.org, but also tools such as Adobe Acrobat (for PDF) or GIMP (for images), or WYSIWYG DTP tools such as QuarkXPress, PageMaker or Scribus, or WYSIWYG HTML editors such as FrontPage, Dreamweaver or KompoZer. NOTES: ^^^^^^ Is this question useful, or should it be removed from survey? === 11. What Git interfaces and frontends do you use? === (multiple choice, with other) + Cogito (DEPRECATED) + Easy Git + Pyrite + I don't know, I only use (graphical) tools + pg aka Patchy Git (DEPRECATED) + StGIT + Guilt + TopGit + other (please specify) NOTES: ^^^^^^ This version is going back to split from 2008 survey, rather than having everything put together like in 2009 one. There are, of course, problems with both choices. The problem with split part is that people can have troubls with distinguising between interfaces, implementations, frontends and tools (although "I don't know ..." answer should, I think, help here). The problem with having it everything together is that the list of possible answers gets long and a bit unwieldy. BTW are there any implementations and frontends that should be added to the list above? === 12. What kind of Git tools do you use? === (multiple choice, with other) If a tool is both history viewer, and commit tool, please choose the option that corresponds to how do you use this tool. + editor/IDE VC integration (e.g. EGit, TextMate bundle, magit) + filemanager / shell extension (e.g. git-cheetah, TortoiseGit) + graphical history viewer/browser (e.g. gitk) + graphical commit tool (e.g. git-gui) + graphical diff and/or merge tool (e.g. Kompare, Meld) + graphical blame or pickaxe tool + git-instaweb, or self-hosted web interface + tool to manage git repositories (e.g. Gitosis, Gitolite) + my own scripts (for daily use) + my own scripts (for special tasks) NOTES: ^^^^^^ As the number of tools increases (see InterfacesFrontendsAndTools page on git wiki), having them listed all there gets a bit unwieldy. On the other hand it was a good way to find new tools that were not yet included on IFaT page. What do you think: should it be about tools, or only about kind of tools used with git? What do you think about this list? IS there something that should not be here? Or perhaps there is something that should be added to this list? === 13. Which git hosting site(s) do you use for your project(s)? === Please check only hosting sites where you publish/push to (with git) (multiple choice, with other) + [http://repo.or.cz repo.or.cz] + [http://github.com GitHub] + [http://gitorious.org Gitorious] + [http://www.indefero.net InDefero] Notes: ^^^^^^ Those are generic git hosting sites, each of them showcasing their own tool, all except GitHub open source (it is Girocco for repo.or.cz; for the rest the tool is named the same as the git hosting site). + [http://savannah.gnu.org Savannah] + [http://sourceforge.net SourceForge] Notes: ^^^^^^ Generic software hosting sites, with git support. Did I miss something, should I include yet another site? + [http://www.assembla.com Assembla] + [http://codebasehq.com Codebase] + [http://unfuddle.com Unfuddle] - [http://codesion.com Codesion] - [http://gitfarm.appspot.com GitFarm] - [http://www.projectlocker.com ProjectLocker] - [http://thechaw.com The Chaw] - [http://unfuddle.com Unfuddle] Notes: ^^^^^^ Those are commercial and/or less known git hosting sites. I am not sure which ones of those marked with '-' to include, and whether to include other sites from GitHosting page on git wiki. What do you think? + [http://git.kernel.org kernel.org] + [http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/ freedesktop.org] Notes: ^^^^^^ Those are 'git hosting site for related projects', but are special in some sense. Should I leave them there, or remove from this list? + [http://alioth.debian.org Alioth] (Debian) + [http://hosted.fedoraproject.org Fedora Hosted] Notes: ^^^^^^ Those are distribution-specific. Are there any sites that I missed? Launchpad from Ubuntu does not count, as it is Bazaar hosting site, not Git hosting site. + git hosting site for related projects + generic site without git support + self hosted Notes: ^^^^^^ Are ther other kinds / typse of sites one can host project using git on? What are they? + Other (please specify) NOTES: ^^^^^^ I think this question is here to stay. === 14. How do you fetch/get changes from upstream repositories? === (multiple choice, with other) + git protocol (e.g. git://git.example.com/repo.git) + ssh (e.g. ssh+git://git.example.com/repo.git, git.example.com:/srv/scm/repo.git) + http (e.g. http://git.example.com/repo.git) + rsync (DEPRECATED) (e.g. rsync://git.example.com/repo.git) + filesystem (e.g. /path/to/repo.git, file:///path/to/repo.git) + via git-bundle + foreign SCM (e.g. git-svn) + Other, please specify Description: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ This question asks about how do you get changes (updates) from projects you follow into your local repository. It is not about how do you get latest version of Git. Fetching (or rather cloning) via bundle could mean that project publishes ready for download bundles to reduce traffic and load on server (HTTP download [of bundle] can be resumed, git-clone currently cannot; one can also distribute bundle using P2P). NOTES: ^^^^^^ What is new are examples of URLs / URIs for each protocol. Did I miss anything? Is this question interesting, and should it stay, or should it be removed? === 15. How do you publish/propagate your changes? === (multiple choice, with other) + push + pull request (+ any form of announcement / notification) + format-patch + email + format-patch + other (e.g. reviewboard, issue tracker or forum) + git bundle + git-svn (to Subversion repository) + git-p4 (to Perforce repository) + foreign SCM interface (other than mentioned above) + other - please specify Description: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Publishing via bundle could mean sending bundle via email, or posting it on review board (or forum). Instead of git-format-patch there can be utilized other way of generating patch (e.g. git-show, git-diff, 'patch' view from gitweb, etc.) NOTES: ^^^^^^ Should it stay, or should it be removed? I guess it can be interesting for git hosting sites... Should we have separate answrs for different kinds of push (ssh, "dumb" HTTP(S) with WebDAV, "smart" HTTP - if it is possible, git:// protocol with push enabled)? === 16. Which of the following features do you use? === (multiple choice, with other) + "smart" HTTP protocol + git bundle (off-line transport) + eol conversion (crlf) + gitattributes + custom diff/merge driver + submodules (subprojects) + subtree merge (optionally git-subtree) + partial (sparse) checkout, or assume-unchanged bit + separate worktree / core.worktree + multiple worktrees (git-new-worktree) + alternates mechanism (sharing object database) + stash (optionally "git stash --keep-index") + shallow clone (e.g. "git clone --depth=") + detaching HEAD (e.g. "git checkout HEAD^0") + interactive rebase (small scale history editing) + interactive commit / per-hunk comitting / partial commit + commit message templates + git-filter-branch or equivalent (large history rewriting) + bisect (optionally "git bisect run