The crux of it, and the reason why I see it as a lost cause:
> the only way to really understand deeply how git checkout works, you have to fundamentally understand the internal workings of git.
Thing is, there's no way around fundamentally understanding the internal workings if you're going to use git on the command line.
Checkout and reset can be tough, but for instance reflog also makes no sense if you don't understand the commit model.
Newer user and occasional git users will be better served with a nice GUI. VSCode has extensions that will help deal with the basic operations etc.
The issue to me has never been that commands are cryptic, and more that git isn't made for people enjoying simplicity. For those, an extra layer above git is the best choice IMHO.
I think it's the other way around. GUIs that expose everything of Git to the end developer also expose a lot of ways to shoot yourself in the foot if you don't know what the fuck you are doing.
The times I had to assist people shooting themselves with whatever favorite GUI they use... man I was happy I'm firmly in the Git CLI camp.
I'm in agreement. GUIs when it comes to git should offer a more limited, but consistent and understandable set of actions for users.
I'd imagine something very close to what SVN or CVS offered, and mainly targeted at users who won't be professionally working with a full team on a shared code base.
> the only way to really understand deeply how git checkout works, you have to fundamentally understand the internal workings of git.
Thing is, there's no way around fundamentally understanding the internal workings if you're going to use git on the command line.
Checkout and reset can be tough, but for instance reflog also makes no sense if you don't understand the commit model.
Newer user and occasional git users will be better served with a nice GUI. VSCode has extensions that will help deal with the basic operations etc.
The issue to me has never been that commands are cryptic, and more that git isn't made for people enjoying simplicity. For those, an extra layer above git is the best choice IMHO.