I read the article, I enjoyed it.  It reminded me of why I like git so much.<p>git-diff doesn't require you to do gymnastics to compare files from different branches in the same working directory: "git diff branch1 [branch2] path" where omitting branch2 compares the working path instead of branch2's.<p>And I think your second problem with git, that big hairy branches should somehow be distinct from small simple branches, is also a non-issue.  Especially since you already recognized the solution: let big hairy branches live, and small simple branches die.<p>Since you can reconstruct deleted branches, I don't see the problem with deleting them.  Bugfix branches for specific releases can be created as needed by choosing the release commit in master as the starting point for the branch.  If you really want to keep dormant branches around you can rename them to keep them distinct from "working" branches.<p>Sorry for not having specifically addressed these in the original comment, which was actually supposed to be a reply to fexl <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1095116" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1095116</a>