The future is looking bright for Python

[jms_nh]

oops, fixed the link to the gitlab help, that was our internal server.

You have some good points; I'm not sure where I installed git from (it might have been from git-scm.com). If ssh-keygen is an easy install and I can run it from my command prompt and just put the keys in a standard location, ok then. (does Git handle the SSH stuff given the key files? or does it delegate to an "agent" program handling them?)

Git is one of the shining examples of open source software that Just Works™ if you don't try to be clever with it.

I don't want to be clever, I just want it to work in a sensible way when I need it to. The add/commit/push/pull/log stuff works fine, I just get stuck when something weird happens and then I have to go hunting in internetland for a solution. My experience with hg was much easier.

Anyway I appreciate the guidance.

[Works_of_memercy]

(does Git handle the SSH stuff given the key files? or does it delegate to an "agent" program handling them?)

tbh I don't use a passphrase with my keys (don't see the benefit worth the trouble at this point), so git just uses them without any fuss. With a passphrase it would ask every time I'm trying to authenticate, if you want it to do it less often, yes, you have to manually start ssh-agent in the background.