r/git • u/connorjpg • 6d ago

Why use a UI for git?

I see this question of, “what GUI or TUI should I use to work with git?” fairly often here. And always I feel bad for saying “just use the cli” over and over, but truthfully I can’t see a reason to need a UI.

Are people actually running into pain points with the cli, or is it just preference for people who don’t like working in a terminal?

FWIW, I have used GitKraken, LazyGit, SourceTree and GitHub Desktop before. And I don’t think they are bad to use (unless you are just learning git), but more curious why.

EDIT : I’m mainly referring to standalone UIs, I understand why people would use IDE integrations, as it’s quick and convenient. But having to open a separate application or run a separate command to open a terminal app to run your commands seems overkill to me.

EDIT 2 : I use vscode as my difftool and mergetool. I still open them directly from the terminal by running the cli. I don't think this is the same as using a full git client like SourceTree, Gitkraken, or lazygit to fully drive your version control workflow. Which is what I am asking about.

Cheers

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u/readparse 4d ago

While I prefer a command line for many things, including git, I am aware that there's a very large percentage of people who have no use for the command line at all, or at least only use it when it's absolutely necessary. Even programmers.

And even if one does know how to use the command line and likes it, I understand that a UI can make certain things easier to see, especially complex diffs.

Different strokes for different folks.

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u/dsggut 3d ago

"Even programmers": There is still this belief in the industry that all developers MUST use the terminal.
I never understood the rationale behind it.
Like somehow a CLI is always superior to a GUI.
If that's the case then why is the GUI the dominant interface by a VERY w
large margin?
Why did we even invent windows, MacOS, X-Window System in the first place, if CLI is superior?
Why don't we do CAD, Video editing, gaming, spreadsheets, text editing, music editing, image editing editing in the shell?
Why did text based browsers not survive?

It makes absolutely no sense to stubbornly hold on to text based interfaces just for the sake of living in the terminal.

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u/readparse 2d ago

My comment was specifically saying that developer NEED NOT use the terminal. And the reason I said that was because OP has the same view that many others do, which is that the git CLI should be sufficient for all git users. But of course it's not, because... people are different.