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Can someone explain to me why github apparently has bad UX/UI? I always thought the UI has gotten really good over the years.
[Edit] Like there this huge argument in these comments about the release button being all wrong. ??? No clue what people have against it. I thought it was fine? You can use it or not. People link to it if they want it more prominent. Someone explain?
I find that when you know how to use Github, Github is pretty easy and close to perfect for what it is, a code repository.
I think that most people who stumble across a Github link through a Google search, probably like in the original post, want to treat it like an app store. The read.me is the description, so they can tell it kind of does what they need, but they’re missing a big, green download and install button.
Let’s not look a
giftGit horse in the mouth.FTFY
Around last year or the year before that they changed the placement of that button, never really given much thought about it tbf. Just a minor annoyance.
But yeah it was like in the same top row as the code/issues/pull-requests/wiki pages. Now you can only access it from the code page inside a lateral panel. Before that you could just jump to the releases from the wiki page, as an example.
“the
forcemacarena is strong with this one, anakin.”From someone in computer networking classes: “I don’t use GitHub. This is too complicated” Like bruh. The instructions are right there in the readme.
There’s also the time where we were asked to read temperature from a sensor, and everyone went straight to chatgpt. Meanwhile, first search result, full repo with full noob instructions.
Computer networking was the most complicated class I took. How can GitHub be too complicated compared to the class? Or is it a non low level computer networking class?
This is literally the third year of the diploma. This is not even source control. This is literally installing the software provided with the instructions provided
But as I seen both, networking is easier than programming IMO. Networking is mostly knowing a lot of things to be able to reuse that knowledge Programming is actually creating things and solutions to problems, and is more complicated, at least for me. But I still prefer it as I actually feel mentally challenged (pun intended)
My personal issue with github is more the placement of the actual download links, sometimes its harder to find than the real download button on a dodgy pirate site without ad-block.
Is chatgpt the default starting point for inexperienced / early career/ students now?
As a CS student, yes absolutely. These people then complain about paper exams and when the code gets complex enough for the AI to make mistakes. I’ve seen a few people drop out in programming 2, and my web 1 class was decimated because we were doing more than leetcode exercises. It’s a real problem that so many people are using it as a crutch.
I’m not a developer but I write a lot of code for network infrastructure automation… when I started learning I was already a network engineer so I figured it would be a cakewalk. I think it takes a certain type of person (patience, persistence, tenacity, etc) to excel in a computer science field. I’d reckon a lot of young people think the jobs are all pretty sweet and cushy
Why are you surprised?
I’m neither surprised nor unsurprised. I’m middle aged and don’t have much insight into what university students are doing day to day.
TBF, they could probably make the “releases” page more prominent rather than having it buried in all the “code” stuff.
Worst part is that this used to be a separate tab in the repo navigation. I still cannot conceive of a reason why they would move it from there to some random heading in the middle of the screen, except maybe so they can sell more GitHub trainings.
I think you’re on to something haha
This is really bad on mobile too. I usually flip to desktop mode to get to releases page quickly.
After downloading code from GitHub for years I can still take over a minute finding the file I want to download at times. Now that’s not long, but it’s why I’m there 90% of the time.
If there isnt a link in the readme.md I could be lost for days.
I’ve been using github for what, 10 years now? And I had no idea there even was a releases page.
A lot of projects don’t use it or forget to update it for multiple versions so you probably aren’t missing much.
If you use it as a developer you don’t care about the releases page. You want to see the code and for latest version you just need the git tags. But I’ve also used it for stuff I just needed to run on my machine as an end-user. And for those you turn to the Releases page. That’s where pre-built binaries go.
But it also depends on the target audience. Some projects, even if meant more as software to run than code to import, still target mainly developers or tech users in general and will not have more than just instructions on how to build them. Others, say a Minecraft launcher, or some console emulator, will target a wider audience and provide a good Releases page with binaries for multiple platforms.
TRUE. the first time I used GitHub, the releases tab being all the way at the bottom in the mobile view confused me for a good while
GitHub has bad UX for people who just wanna download and use the programs
I fixed it for them
What about up by the name of the repo? Your suggestion still looks almost reasonable, I like it!
Yeah actually that could work as well. Would be a really easy greasemonkey script
And then just push it to the main branch of GitHub, I’m sure they’ll accept it ;)
GitHub has bad UX for a lot of things
The Github UX is amazing if you ever had to use gitlab or bitbucket
Comparing bad to bad doesn’t make any of them better lol
I’ve gone nuts trying to download a single file from the git website on my first interactions with it (because somehow adding a download file button when you’re viewing a file on the site is just too much to handle)
It’s not black and white. I actually liked a few things better about bit buckets UI. It’s been too long to remember specifics though I think it was concerning PRs and diffs. I still think GitHubs review UI is too complicated. It took me literally years to fully understand it.
i really enjoy the lack of dark mode and the way it doesn’t work on a tablet
My bad. It indeed is black and white. There can be no redeeming aspect of bitbucket. Fair point
thank you! now was that so hard?
I’m not so sure. I seem to be able to find my way around a GitLab project in much fewer moves than a GitHub project. But maybe I’m biased because I use it all the time at work. I know they change the sidebar a lot, though.
not only the ux, some devs make it absurdly confusing to find a binary.
I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus, but there’s this one niche app.
their github releases at one point were YEARS out of date, they only linked to the current version in seemingly random issue reports’ comments. And the current versions were some daily build artefacts you could find in a navigation tree many clicks deep in some unrelated website. And you’d better be savvy enough to download a successfully built artefact too. And even then the downloaded .zip contained all kinds of fluff unnescessary for using the app.
The app worked fine, sure, but actually obtaining it was fairly tricky, tbh.
These build artefacts probably weren’t meant for end users, that’s why they contained the “unnecessary fluff”.
absolutely, but they were in general (IIRC) suggesting them for the main downloads, but just not telling anyone outside the comments, which was the weird part
I’d agree, but the caveat is that github is primarily about an interface for source control and collaboration between developers for projects. The release page is really just an also-ran in terms of importance.
Imo they aren’t even trying, because it’s not that hard to make it better. Doesn’t even have to be a compromise. Most people just need a visible download button for the programs, that’s all.
There is, it’s literally right there on the home page of the project. You can either copy a URL and download it by cloning the git repo, or you can download the whole project as a zip file. Then you just have to compile it!
GitHub is for developers, not end users.
That’s not a download button for the program. But there is indeed a link to the release page right on the home page of the project, so you’re still correct.
It’s not a compromise to make another download button for the last release as well. No one looses.
SourceForge had a better UX for those who just want to download software.
And SF is horrible, so this says a lot.
Imagine how many download buttons would be if Github had ads.
If that’s a concern for the project maintainers, they should create a homepage for the project with download links.
Or make a shortcut/link in the readme to the newest release of the most popular OS’s.
A decent release page tends to contain all kinds of files for different OS, so ‘regular’ people who just want the .deb or .exe would likely become confused regardless.
I mean, if you don’t even know what OS you’re on…
Next you’re going to tell me cars need boosters so babies can reach the pedals… At a certain point, it becomes irresponsible to enable ignorance.
That’s not really what it’s designed for though
It doesn’t have to be a compromise imo. Most people just need a visible download button on the front pages. Wouldn’t hurt devs at all. I mean, even devs sometimes struggle with this lol.
It doesn’t have to be a compromise
You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.
Any change to appease you would be a compromise, you understand this, yes?
Excel has a bad UX for people who want to use it to make art
But if you want to put a some text and pictures in very specific locations and never worry about them suddenly jumping into random places, Excel is actually better than Word. That’s why people tend to use Excel for all sorts of weird purposes like that. Unlike with Word, things actually stay where you put them.
Yes and there are definitely people who use excel for art. Just like there are people who use GitHub for its releases page. It’s just not the primary use of either program.
Do most people who use Excel also make art with it? Because sometimes devs also just download exe files on GitHub :D
They don’t just always copy code from there.
GitHub, Inc. (/ˈɡɪthʌb/[a]) is a developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage and share their code
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub
Yes it has other functions too, but it’s primarily for code.
Do MOST people who use GitHub download .exes? In my experience the VAST majority of people are using it for source and version control, not external releases. The overwhelming majority. FOSS and OSS is a small portion of the overall GitHub user base compared to, say, enterprise companies.
So you never downloaded a program on GitHub?
No one everever said you need to compromise its focus on developers. There is no compromise to be made. It’s just a stupid button. Stop arguing lol.
you never downloaded a program on GitHub
Precompiled binaries?!? Not even once. It’s a security risk akin to picking up gum on the sidewalk for a fun tasty treat.
So when you just needed software to run on your machinr, you built it yourself. But first read every single line of code to ensure that it’s safe. Did I get that right?
Because if you don’t trust the developer to provide safe binaries then you wouldn’t trust the same developer to provide safe code either.
Cool, I’m not surprised as we are on Lemmy. Welcome to the 1%.
The github project page is for developers, and Github already gives you tons of ways to make a user website. Don’t ask your users to visit github.com/group/project, make them visit group.github.io/project, like any sane person.
Same with Gitlab, BTW.
And if you don’t like the full static site, use the wiki, or guide your users in the first paragraphs of the README so they find the user information if they must.
No, you shouldn’t be really downloading exe’s from github. It is widely being used to spread malware and pretend that the software is open source when it is not. At least look for a link to the store page(including microsoft store), a distro-specific package or build instructions. Those usually have an AV scan or at least harder to fake.
Yeah a dude I know got hacked by downloading some random github program, the hacker even started taunting him via discord lol.
But I downloaded plenty of shit from github, like prusaslicer, my 3d printer’s firmware and plugins for octoprint. Always stuff that is verified via another page though. Almost never stuff that comes up during a random search, and if I do, I look it up first to see if it’s safe.
We’re talking about how to design one of the biggest platforms on the internet. Of course there is a compromise. No one is advocating for removing the button, but arguing that the UI is somehow deficient for people wanting to download binaries is really missing the purpose of GitHub.
It’s an additional feature of GitHub that literally everyone uses. Therefore it has purpose. I think it’s ridiculous to argue against it.
Explain to me how developers or the UI would suffer from easier access to releases?
I’ve bounced off GitHub more than once trying to figure out how to download the .exe file that I assumed must be somewhere. Honestly I still don’t understand the interface and I’ve submitted bug reports for Jeroba on there. I might have even used GitHub for a project once? Every time I look at it it’s overwhelming and confusing and none of it is self-explanatory. But, that’s fairly true for a lot of stuff in programming.
If there is an exe, it’s under the releases link. On desktop it’s on the right sidebar below “About”. On mobile it’s at the bottom after the readme blurb.
It’s not obvious because the code is the main focus and GitHub would much rather people host their releases somewhere else.
And even if releases are hosted on github, there should ideally be a download links page somewhere that presents the different binaries or installation files in an easier to understand format, especially if the software is designed for non-developers.
That’s where it is? I’ve been sneaking my way in by clicking
tagsand then thereleasestoggle!
I swear they move the link to release page every few months.
They purposely hide it, because they don’t wanna tend to normies
I agree. Whenever I link someone I try to make sure to link directly to the release page.
Honestly, releases and the readme could be the first page on their own, you can push the code to another tab as long as the clone button is there. There’s at most a 5% chance I’m just gonna raw dog the code straight from the browser anyways.
On mobile, they hide the code by default. Though the releases are still hidden underneath the readme.
Sherlock is command line only too…
Follow up post.
“I don’t want to write a fucking essay nerds! Just make a GUI and put it in an .EXE!!!1111111111 spittle sp[pzpzzzzzzzqawjpoidqweiofrjowqefj”
If they pay me more, I’ll make them one in Visual Basic and trace an IP address.
Also, it’s literally a script for stalking people on social media. So it’s pretty clear why they want this script so bad.
Why would you even need a script for that? Like, what functionality is it actually providing that can’t be done through the app / web UI
It’s only a script. The software is command line. There is no native or web UI. The script isn’t some additional interface, the script is the software
I meant the app / web UI for whichever social media lol
Like, if you wanna stalk someone on Instagram, what can you get out of a script that you can’t get by just opening their page the normal way
Oh the idea is that it hunts down users across different social media accounts with limited information. Just a way to automate something someone could do themselves.
As you can see here though, it checks a lot of sites
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sherlock-project/sherlock/master/sherlock/resources/data.json
Oh absolutely, anyone in a red team position is more than capable of running a few command lines. The guy is without a doubt trying to stalk someone
It’s a command line tool. If you don’t know how to install it despite having the instructions, you don’t know how to use it too.
He eventually found the executable by Googling for it online and is now part of a botnet.
Then created a GitHub account to post three separate issues complaining about how the project’s executable is an obvious Trojan, patting themself on the back for keeping the community safe with their expert sleuthing.
about how the project’s executable is an obvious Trojan
Which I bet was only obvious to him when Norton Antivirus told him
This reads like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycLpMlC3O4o (5 second film)
Happy ending then I take it
Sometimes I can understand this struggle. For example let’s play a game. There is this app from e-foundation “Blisslauncher” it’s the default of eOS. And since I like it but don’t use eOS I want to download the apk from their gitlab page.
https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/os/BlissLauncher
So tell me, where is the latest release apk?
Is the only option to download build artifacts?
Yes, and they come in three variants, apiQ, apiS and apiR. And I don’t understand the difference.
These are Android API levels: https://apilevels.com/
Ty, I thought something like that and this link explains it very well.
What’s with the codenames? They’re making me hungry lol
They actually call the android releases “cookies” because of this tradition for the code names. You can read phrases like “This will be fixed in the next cookie”
Why do they feel so entitled for everything?
because they aren’t a smelly nerd ig
They’re going places
The machine spirit requires that you submit the correct incantations
like this?
# Let Git take a rest with some yummy awk chocolate logs with delicious nuts and seeds, and don't be pushy! git reset --hard $(git log --reverse | sed -n 1p | awk -F "[ ]" '{print $2}') && git push -fEDIT: Don’t actually run it.
Can you explain what this does? I’m thinking something along the lines of reverting all commits except the very first one?
You are correct! It sets HEAD to the first commit and then force pushes, deleting everything after HEAD.
Though, it only affects the currently selected branch.
You guys realize this was on a joke community, right? Most of the original comments missed it too…
r/github is a joke community?
The original text was not on github.
Saw it on copypasta yesterday. It’s possible this is an old screenshot and I could’ve seen the repost.
Good find. I guess this is an old picture.
The post was made 3 days ago. The picture is of this exact post. It’s not exactly old
I took the screenshot before the post was even locked, you can also find a comment by me on that thread.
At this point r/ itself is a joke community.
Yes, I think that most of us realized from some of the self-aware wording that this is a parody. But like many parodies it’s a real trope taken to a silly extreme, so we’re talking about users who fit that trope (including ourselves, sometimes!).
Skill issue tbh
I thought this was going to be a version of the penguin of doom copypasta.
Git gud.
git: 'gud.' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.Does “got clone *” work or anything that would?
