Want Git Preinstalled On The Next OS X?

http://github.com/blog/327-want-git-preinstalled-on-next-mac-os-x

by thedob • 17 years ago

45 40 17 years ago

github.com

Zev7• 17 years ago

Not particularly.

Maybe with an install of Xcode. But it has absolutely no purpose whatsoever being installed by default.

defunkt• 17 years ago

CVS and SVN are installed by default. So are Python and Ruby.

Zev7• 17 years ago

CVS is installed with Xcode as far as I can tell; Its in the iPhone SDK download (open the iPhone SDK.pkg up in Pacifist and look under DeveloperToolsCLI.pkg/usr/bin/).

Though I'm surprised OS X ships with SVN by default. FWIW, the version of SVN that ships is 1.4.4 (and it still hasn't been updated as of 10.5.6 or iPhone SDK for 2.2.1.

And Python.framework and Ruby.framework are installed to let you run other programs people write. Same reason you have Java, Tcl/Tk and all the ObjC/Cocoa frameworks. Having the frameworks != writing code.

dylanz• 17 years ago

Not really... but awwwwe @#$% it, throw it in there ;)

neilc3• 17 years ago

Not really. For one thing, the default version of git would quickly become outdated, and could potentially cause confusion with a user-installed version.

What Apple should really do is build a proper package management system. IMHO, that is a fundamental part of a modern operating system, especially one designed for use with F/OSS software.

Zev7• 17 years ago

It is possible to update the $PATH to grab from /usr/local/bin/* (user stuff land) before /usr/bin/* (system stuff land). If you're comfortable using command line to manage code, editing the ~/.bashrc shouldn't be too difficult to manage.

neilc3• 17 years ago

Yeah, obviously. But the point is that if the presupplied git quickly becomes out of date, what's the point in Apple shipping it and it taking up disk space? The Apple-supplied versions of other OSS packages (e.g. Ruby) don't exactly set a good precedent.

lallysingh3• 17 years ago

The engineering effort required is too far outside their business focus. They've got a very basic one, but nothing in terms of what modern Linuxers are used to. They've blessed macports as their preferred one, which does a reasonable job.

As far as I've seen, apple will include the latest stable version of a tool per major upgrade (e.g. tiger, leopard, etc.). They'll keep it the same version until the next major one, without touching point releases. In terms of the principle of least surprises, it's actually the way I'd prefer.

The other post's advice for .bashrc is very good, it's what I do.

neilc3• 17 years ago

The engineering effort required is too far outside their business focus.

Then they should stop claiming that OSX is suitable for use as a server OS.

JulianMorrison• 17 years ago

Why not just adopt .deb and apt?

aaronblohowiak• 17 years ago

They should strip out their custom builds and have macports pre-installed.

tptacek3• 17 years ago

Can I go with, "no"? The preinstalled Ruby and Python images on OS X have been debacles, and I've had to do custom SVN builds as well.

thedob• 17 years ago

But I bet many novice developers have been exposed to Ruby and Python (and SVN) because they shipped with OS X. Let's let newcomers use git without a custom install, and maybe it will lead to more widespread adoption.

You don't need the latest version of git for init, clone, add, commit, push, and pull to work.

otto• 17 years ago

Even "novice developers" are able to:

  1. download macports
  2. double click an installer and click next a few times
  3. type 'sudo port install git-core'

alnayyir2• 17 years ago

No thanks, I want my skillset to be rare, not commoditized.

lacker2• 17 years ago

How about including it with Xcode, then?

tptacek3• 17 years ago

That would solve the problem of conflicting distributions exactly not-at-all.

prospero• 17 years ago

Why not just include macports?

travisjeffery• 17 years ago

What they install are require for applications to run. If they don't need it then they don't put it on it's as simple as that.

zain• 17 years ago

Git has a very nice and very simple installer on OS X: http://code.google.com/p/git-osx-installer/

You don't need to muck with macports or anything.

bayareaguy• 17 years ago

I have a PPC powerbook and I'd much rather have a more recent Java then something like git which I can easily manage myself. But then the point is moot because if current rumors are true I probably won't be able to run 10.6 anyways.

jpcx01• 17 years ago

Would be much nicer if MacPorts was preinstalled so that everyone can install and update their packages as needed.

Want Git Preinstalled On The Next OS X?

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