Developer migrates personal projects from Git to Fossil over Rust rewrite plans
A developer describes abandoning Git for personal projects after learning of a proposal within the Git project to make Rust mandatory. Citing long experience with systems like RCS, CVS, SVN, Mercurial and Bazaar, they chose Fossil as a replacement, noting its C codebase, small footprint, and simpler workflow without a staging area.
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The move reflects a broader tension in open-source communities over rewriting established C codebases in Rust, a debate that has stirred pushback from developers wary of forced language migrations. It also highlights that alternative version control systems like Fossil remain viable for users who find Git's complexity or governance direction unappealing.
- A Git-related proposal to mandate Rust prompted at least one developer to switch tools entirely.
- Fossil, written in C, was chosen for its simplicity and lower resource use compared to Git.
- The episode underscores ongoing friction between C-focused developers and Rust adoption efforts in open-source projects.
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Published there as: “From Git to Fossil”
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