github GitHub alternatives?

[whitebread]

I'm wondering what the best source code hosting service is. I've used GitHub, and don't have anything against it. I'm just wanting to check out the alternatives.

I don't know much about the different types (Git, SVN, Mercurial, etc.) other than that they exist :blush: .

Can someone please give me a brief run-down of GitHub alternatives and what they offer?

Thanks :D

[fhpuqrgrpgvirzhpujbj]

BitBucket is one alternative. They support git and mercurial.

I've had a good experience with them for small projects so far.

[whitebread]

^ Are there good OS X (Lion) clients for either Git or Mercurial?

[sbauer]

^ Are there good OS X (Lion) clients for either Git or Mercurial?

I use the command-line interface for Git. There are a few others though.

GitX - http://gitx.frim.nl/

SourceTree - http://www.sourcetreeapp.com/

The GitHub Mac client might even work with non-GitHub repositories.

As far as alternatives go, there are tons of Git, Mercurial and SVN hosts out there. If you're looking for a feature set similar to GitHub, Bitbucket is going to be your best choice. There are a bunch of other project hosting sites that host your project (PM features) as well as your code (Git). Beyond that, there are additional places that just host your code and Trac as well (repositoryhosting.com).

[El Marto]

SourceTree is a fairly decent git client for osx, might support others but never used mercurial. For SVN cornerstone is my favourite client. However, for git i always just use command line

[alxtsg]

GitHub, BitBucket, CodePlex, all come with Git support.

BitBucket offers private git repository for free.

I feel that CodePlex is mostly for .NET developers, but I used to have a Java project hosted there too.

[Stephen Veteran]

just throw yet another one in the mix,

http://www.fogcreek.com/Kiln/ use them at work and for my personal vcs. It uses mercurial under the hood, it isnt as 'social' as the others but a good vcs. Also, there s a free version.

[Dav-id]

You can also consider CodePlex, Team Foundation Server and now Team Foundation Service (http://tfspreview.com/)

Edit: One thing to note is Team Foundation Service WILL have an OS X client and a Linux client but they are not available yet, however you can use an eclipse plugin.

[sbauer]

You can also consider CodePlex, Team Foundation Server and now Team Foundation Service (http://tfspreview.com/)

Edit: One thing to note is Team Foundation Service WILL have an OS X client and a Linux client but they are not available yet, however you can use an eclipse plugin.

I hate to be that guy, but if you don't have to use TFS, don't.

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

There's Google Code too, which supports source control in Git, Mercurial and SVN.

[Aethec]

BitBucket is nice, with unlimited public and private repositories. Also, it looks good (unlike some websites...).

The only problem I've found so far is that the project follower count is never accurate.

[whitebread]

What are the differences between Git/SVN/Mercurcial?

[Aethec]

SVN is old. It's a VCS, which means there is only one repository in which everyone pulls/pushes.

Git and Mercurial are very similar. Unlike SVN, they are decentralized: everyone has his own repository on his computer, and then you pull and push changes as needed. In other words, you can do tons of small commits while you're working on something without worrying about the impact these commits have since they only affect your repo.

Then there's Bazaar, which is also similar to git and mercurial; I never used it, but apparently its main advantage is that rename is a first-class operation and not the copy/delete hack others use.

VisualHg for Visual Studio works well (though it never commits removed files by default, which is annoying).

If you need a quick Mercurial tutorial, try http://hginit.com/

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

Basically what Aethec said. SVN shouldn't really be used for new projects these days, since much better alternatives exist in both Git and Mercurial. SVN works as a centralized model, where there is a single repository, and everyone checks their code into one place. With Distributed VCS systems (such as Git and Mercurial), every user has a copy of the central repository, and commits to their local copy. Then, when they're finished, they push their changes in bulk back to the central repository. This offers big advantages over the centralized model since it allows people to commit as often as they like without interfering with other people by committing buggy code.

HGInit has a good overview of the differences between Distributed VCS like Git/Mercurial and centralized systems like SVN here: http://hginit.com/00.html.

Personally I prefer Mercurial over Git, I find it to be just as capable for my needs, but has a much simpler interface.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Right now I use Bazaar for my own needs, which are very modest (I'm the only developer on my project). I'm used to doing everything with TortoiseSVN (yes, that's what uni forced unto us) and Bazaar was a very smooth transition from that. Here's an article listing its strenghts: http://doc.bazaar.ca...-to-bazaar.html

I suppose the major weakness of Bazaar is that there's basically just launchpad.net for online hosting, but I hear launchpad.net is great so that's not necessarily bad.