In Case You Were Wishing GitHub Had Some Competition…

September 9, 2010

I totally missed this back in March, but Beanstalk—who've been known until now as strictly a Subversion hosting service—has expanded their offering to include Git repositories as well. From their announcement:

It’s our firm belief that there is not just one version control system for everyone (that is crazy talk). So, we offer the best of both worlds, the low barrier to entry of Subversion and the powerful tools of Git, all in one system.

As it goes with most new technology, Subversion was “perceived” by some as obsolete once Git was released. It’s always been our view that Git, in most cases, is not a complete replacement for Subversion. Git is an extremely powerful version control system (we use it), but it confuses many people. In addition to the complexity, the availability of good clients and tools for Git is still lacking. By supporting both Git and Subversion, we help people choose from both options to fit their needs.

To be clear, GitHub is still great. But if you find yourself wishing for a simpler web interface or having to also maintain a Subversion server, Beanstalk could be a nice alternative.