back to article Imagine working for GitHub and writing a command-line interface for the platform, then GitHub makes an 'official' one

GitHub has released version 1.0 of its CLI, allowing interaction and control of repositories from the command line. The hosted repository is based on git, which is itself a command-line tool. There is also another project, called hub, which provides a CLI for GitHub. Confusing? Git alone is not enough for the full GitHub …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Microsoft GitHub

    It's so nice of Microsoft to embrace the thriving Git ecosystem, and extend a core interface with specific functionality for their own platform. I can only imagine what might come next!

    1. FIA Silver badge

      Re: Microsoft GitHub

      It's so nice of Microsoft to embrace the thriving Git ecosystem, and extend a core interface with specific functionality for their own platform.

      ...by not going with the tool that can be aliased to git (and therefore 'extended' with breaking features) but instead one that specifically ensures you know you're working with GithHub?

      They really are losing their touch.

      1. chuBb.
        Black Helicopters

        Re: Microsoft GitHub

        As much as its fun to be paranoid about MS's intentions, the aliesed bit makes a lot of sense if it means that the GitHUB cli can use MS's Git File system for huge repo's (like windows source) by a simple config file change to the path of the git client executable vs Hubs baked in dependency, that and they probably plan to allow closer integration with CLI azure devops/VSTS, really fail to see the problem about being able to select which git client the cli uses under the hood....

        1. localzuk Silver badge

          Re: Microsoft GitHub

          You've got it backwards. Hub is the one that is aliased - hub being the one created by one of their employees. The new one isn't.

          1. chuBb.

            Re: Microsoft GitHub

            Dont think so, certainly the way i read it makes it sound like the GitHUB CLI doesnt have the assumption that your aliased to git, which as i hunderstand is exactly what hub is, just riding ontop of git cli client...

    2. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Microsoft GitHub

      They're going to make it eXcellent, right? That's the next step?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Microsoft GitHub

      "I can only imagine what might come next!"

      It doesn't look like a "next" is needed, as once you start replacing cli tools with proprietary ones, the trap is sprung. In fact, maybe the non-official tool was the beginning... not sure as I don't use github.

      What is kind of the odd is that you need none of this. SSH works just fine with Git and just because GitHub has or hasn't allowed certain options doesn't mean you need a proprietary cli tool... just fix the back end and be done.

      Oddly, the article makes it sound like GitHub is a nightmare to use...

      "The advantage for developers is not only the ability to write scripts using GitHub, but also reducing the need to visit the GitHub website"

      So, before you couldn't write scripts in ANYTHING and you NEEDED to use the HTML interface... sounds horrible. Ironically(?), it sounds a lot like Powershell (non-portable scripts written for 1 interface).

      1. FIA Silver badge

        Re: Microsoft GitHub

        What is kind of the odd is that you need none of this. SSH works just fine with Git and just because GitHub has or hasn't allowed certain options doesn't mean you need a proprietary cli tool... just fix the back end and be done.

        It's a tool for doing github things, the git support is one of these. Most people will probably use it with the issue tracker.

        Git works fine with github, even over SSH.

        So, before you couldn't write scripts in ANYTHING and you NEEDED to use the HTML interface... sounds horrible.

        No. There's a rest API, and third party tools, as noted in the article.

      2. sabroni Silver badge

        Re: once you start replacing cli tools with proprietary ones

        But they haven't, the old hub client is carrying on so it's behaviour doesn't change. The new one is gitHub specific so if you use github features you can interact with them from the command line.

        The alternative was to change an existing, generic client into one that specifically worked with github.

        But it really doesn't matter what they do, does it? You can't let it go, even while FaceBook, Twitter and Google are destroying functioning democracies around the world you have to keep carping on about MS.

        1. sitta_europea Silver badge

          Re: once you start replacing cli tools with proprietary ones

          "...even while FaceBook, Twitter and Google are destroying functioning democracies around the world you have to keep carping on about MS..."

          Show me some evidence of a functioning democracy and I'll show you a flying pig.

    4. karlkarl Silver badge

      Re: Microsoft GitHub

      Now is the time to look around and see who is naive enough to fall for Microsoft's EEE nonsense again.

      And then you know exactly who's opinion to completely disregard in future.

      See? There is a good side to all this. It is an entry level "idiot test".

      1. sabroni Silver badge

        Re: Microsoft GitHub

        Now is the time to look around and see who is naive enough to fall for the "Microsoft are still the problem" nonsense again.

        And then you know exactly who's opinion to completely disregard in future.

        See? There is a good side to all this. It is an entry level "stuck in the past test".

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Microsoft GitHub

          I think it's an excellent idea to completely disregard a company's appalling previous behaviour over decades: I'm sure it has not relevance to the future.

          1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

            Re: Microsoft GitHub

            I think it's an excellent idea to completely disregard a company's appalling previous behaviour decades ago, over decades

            There FTFY.

            Not that I'm a particular MS fan-boy, but to be fair to them, their sharp business practises of the '90s and early '00s do seem to be in the past, and as other posters point out, the attention these days would be better placed looking at Google, FaceBook, Amazon, PayPal, eBay, et al

            1. Robert Grant

              Re: Microsoft GitHub

              Their practices don't seem to have changed much. They just aren't in a position to almost-kill too many things, so they're trying to get in that position.

              Suddenly ramping up Teams to try and kill Slack through their existing presence in enterprises is a good example. Price-matching Gitlab to try and kill them is another.

  2. just_some_dude

    Same dev?

    "We have no actual insight into how hub's dev or devs actually feel about this..."

    A cursory look at the contributors to hub and the new CLI shows the same guy behind most of the hub commits is heavily involved with the new CLI. I'm guessing he feels fine about it all?

    1. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Same dev?

      "feelings" are SO overrated. Although, you don't want _anger_ from customers/users...

      And yet I'm still in "wait and see" mode. Last thing I'm going to want to deal with is a closed-source application that must be installed on non-windows (including FreeBSD) development systems, that have cryptic commands similar to Power[s[Hell, requires ".Not" or Mono to run, etc. etc. etc..

      Did the article say whether this GitHub "hub" tool is actually OPEN SOURCE? I suppose I could go look at the site... ok - Build from Source instructions are at THAT link! So far so good, except you have to install 'go' 1.13 or later. and here I was thinking that REAL cli application developers use C and C++ ...

      (but at least it's Open Source so kudos to the dev for doing that much and making it buildable on non-windows platforms)

      Yeah no doubt it'll show up in FreeBSD's ports system soon, if it's not there already.

      1. karlkarl Silver badge

        Re: Same dev?

        > So far so good, except you have to install 'go' 1.13 or later. and here

        > I was thinking that REAL cli >application developers use C and C++ ...

        They do. GitHub guys and many of their developers are web developers where they use almost any language that gives them the opportunity to drag in as many dependencies as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if this cli program *also* requires Python 2, Python 3 and Perl ;)

        I notice the same unfortunately with Emscripten. It is a little bit webby where 99% of it is C++ from Clang/llvm but for that tiny remaining 1% it drags in Node, Java, Python and a shed load of NPM dependencies. It is a great tool but I really wish it was developed by an actual C or C++ developer.

        1. sabroni Silver badge

          Re: but I really wish it was developed by an actual C or C++ developer.

          The people responsible for ALL the buffer overflow vulnerabilites in the past decade? Oh, yes please!

          None of you fuckers can do a good enough job. At least the Go programmers realise there's a problem that needs addressing.

          1. karlkarl Silver badge

            Re: but I really wish it was developed by an actual C or C++ developer.

            Oh, you think Go can function without C?

            haha, aww, that is a sweet naive view to have.

      2. sabroni Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: "feelings" are SO overrated.

        Here I come with my calm, rational shouty posts to explain in a very agitated way why other people's feelings shouldn't inconvenience me!

        Without a fucking shred of irony.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Same dev?

        It is: /usr/ports/devel/hub

    2. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

      Re: Same dev?

      A cursory look at the contributors to hub and the new CLI shows the same guy behind most of the hub commits is heavily involved with the new CLI. I'm guessing he feels fine about it all?

      I'm a dev. Luck me gets to work on maintenance of legacy software I'd rather not touch with a barge-pole, and all sorts of things I'd rather not be doing, alongside the interesting work. Professionalism dictates that I do so without complaining (and without leaving too many obviously snarky comments in the code about poor design decisions).

      If you were to look at the commits I make, they would give no indication about how happy, or otherwise, I was to be working on that bit of code.

      Well, usually, barring the more egregious examples of technical debt I have to deal with.

  3. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    "start fresh without the constraints of 10 years of design decisions"

    Great idea. Now you can make all the same mistakes than before, along with some brand new ones, but in an entirely new way.

    1. Dvon of Edzore

      Re: "start fresh without the constraints of 10 years of design decisions"

      When the new team consists mainly of the old team with fresh managers:

      "I have learned from my mistakes, and I'm sure that I could repeat them exactly."

      (from the "Frog and Peach" sketch, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, as recorded on "Good Evening".)

    2. Yes Me Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: "start fresh without the constraints of 10 years of design decisions"

      "you can make all the same mistakes... in an entirely new way."

      Not that this was ever known to happen before in the history of software, of course... Nothing like this was observed in the 1960s, for example. (Search for "second system syndrome")

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "start fresh without the constraints of 10 years of design decisions"

      My favourite saying is:

      “Replace a load of known issues, with a whole load of unknown issues”

  4. Robert Grant

    Microsoft flexing its peerless ability to discourage any third party contributions to its ecosystem.

  5. Teiwaz

    Linux == Apt???

    Linux users have to add a repository and use apt

    I believe that might be known as an optional dependency.

  6. CrackedNoggin Bronze badge

    "There are also new features, such as the ability to clone, create, and fork repositories, use SSH instead of HTTPS, configure a default editor, and fully manage issues and pull requests, complete with reviewing differences and performing merges. "

    The authors points is -- With the exception of "issues" all those functions are already available in Git.

    The implication is that it is replication of function -- third iteration.

    Cut down on superfluous code and you cut down on bugs.

    There may be more to it than that, esp for Enterprise users, but the authors point is definitely worth considering, and answering if possible.

  7. sitta_europea Silver badge

    Anything that means I don't have to visit the github Website is a plus in my book.

    It recently took me four hours and 200 megabytes of downloads to change ten characters in a README.

  8. johnsmith43

    It recently took me 5 hours and 300 megabytes of download to change ten characters in a README.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like