Vancouver.rb Q&A with Brock Whitten on Git (GitHub, Gitorious), Getting Off Rails (Merb) @ Open Web 2008, JQuery, and More (Part II)

Welcome back to episode two of the Q&A with Vancouverite Brock Whitten.

Q: What’s Git? What has been your experience using Git for PmpknPi? Any pros or cons versus subversion? Any comments on (free) Git hosting services?

Brock Whitten: Well you don’t have to go far to see the excitement around Git. I am hosting PmpknPi in two Git repositories (GitHub and Gitorious) and one Subversion repository at Google Code. Git has made this super easy. Subversion can do most of what Git can do. The big difference for me is that with Git I actually use the tools. I find myself creating, merging and using branches all the time where as with subversion I tread lightly around those tools. Git is also setup in away that allows for people to fork and contribute to your project with ease. As for free Git hosting, Gitorious is fantastic. It seems to be constantly improving in both features and speed. Only downfall is you can currently only do open repositories. For private ones you will have to go to GitHub which is the ‘golden standard’ of Git hosting. It is currently beta-by-invite but I have some invites kicking around so I’m open to anyone emailing me for one if they feel they will use it.

Q: Any commentary on jQuery? How is it better or worse than the “classic” standard Rails JavaScript library Prototype? How does jQuery fit into the Rails or Merb universe?

Brock Whitten: I wanted to see the Prototype/Scriptaculus extracted from Rails 2.0 to level the playing field for other JavaScript libraries such as Moo-tools and JQuery to make its way onto Rails. Seriously, it’s time we separate our JavaScript from our content! Dan Webb has been telling it right for some time now but he is still ignored by the Rails community. It should be noted that you can program unobtrusively with Prototype but Rails/Prototype persuades us to do otherwise. That’s why I have switched to JQuery for both my Rails and Merb projects.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming Open Web Vancouver “Off the Rails” talk? What’s it all about?

Brock Whitten: I’m very excited about being the person who gets to speak about Merb at the Open Web conference. The plan is to give a quick rundown of Merb and where it fits into the ‘framework’ landscape. I will then demonstrate some code (perhaps whip up a quick blog from scratch). I will certainly leave some time to answer questions. Be warned, there is a very good chance you will leave my talk wanting to port many of your projects to Merb.

Q: Any commentary on Zed Shaw’s “Rails is a Ghetto” essay/rant?

Brock Whitten: I like Zed a lot. I think he is very genuine and cares greatly about his work. That doesn’t mean that I agree with everything he says but none of that matters. What matters is Zed is willing to let it be known when something is not right even if that may come at a high cost to him. That’s the kind of person I want in my community.

Thanks Brock Whitten. For more join us at the upcoming Open Web Vancouver 2008 conference at Canada Place on April 14+15th.

Questions? Comments? Send them along to the Vancouver.rb Forum/Mailing List. Thanks!