One of the things I like about using Git is the fact you don’t need hosting to use it. However, there are some benefits to using a Git server – one of which being you can browse the repository online.

I stumbled on a Git hosting provider today called github. The prices are good, and they range from free (for hackers), to $12/month for small teams, to $100/month for large companies.

If your company does outsourcing to countries where the net connectivity is sometimes sketchy, you owe it to yourself to checkout Git. The distributed nature of the program allows for better collaboration in those types of environments.

Because each “clone” of the repository can still commit, even when the network is down people can still work, and re-sync when the network comes back up.

The other gem I spotted today was a Git Textmate bundle which makes using Git in Textmate as easy as using SVN. Here is a screens shot:

You can install the bundle by following the steps on Gitorious (You need to have the command line version of git installed first).

And lastly, I said before that “git doesn’t have a UI and you need to be comfortable with the shell”, but I was incorrect. If you run the command git gui from within a git directory there is a simple but effective UI. Here is a screen shot of what it looks like on Mac OS X but it works on Linux and Windows as well:

I find the Textmate bundle nicer for most day to day activities, but git gui frequently comes in handy.