(I’ve had to create an SVN/git cheatsheet to remind myself how to SVN all the things.) Pearson/AW in contrast uses Basecamp to manage projects. Pragmatic uses a delightfully retro SVN version controlled interactions between editors and authors.

In testing out Github, I was inspired by Pragmatic’s workflow. I’ve used Dropbox for years to provide material to beta readers and gather their feedback as well as to coordinate material on multiple machines.

It will take another 4-6 weeks for Addison Wesley to release iOS Drawing rights back to me but I figured I’d get a head start writing some test chapters and get some early feedback about the project while I had some downtime. I have a week or so to burn while I’m waiting on editorial feedback and tech review on my Swift Style title from Pragmatic. The reason I’m testing out Github is that I’m updating iOS Drawing for Swift. Have you tried using Github this way? And how have your experiences been? It feels odd using Github instead of Dropbox as I’m so used to my Github content being primarily open, and Dropbox requiring explicit permissions. Under the new policy, I have repos to burn. Today was the first time that I set one up to use in this way. I used to be limited to just five in total and I guarded those slots carefully.

I’ve been meaning to give this a go ever since Github changed its policy to allow unlimited private repositories. I’ve used private repos before for material that wasn’t meant for public consumption or to stage material that would then later be released openly but this is the first time I’m testing it out for material that’s substantially not code. I’m testing the waters for the first time in using Github rather than Dropbox to coordinate a private project.

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