> I am glad that you got a git repo up and running, Holger!
Me too! It really helps a *lot* when fixing bugs and creating new features to be able to quickly create new branches and merge them or delete them again. What a great, powerful tool! (So far I only used Subversion for managing code (but no for R'n'D).)
> Use branches!!!
Yes, I do -- I use a branching workflow somewhat similar to the one described here:
http://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/
For R'n'D, my "master" branch is the "develop" branch in the model described there, which I use as an integration branch for stable code than should be in a state that could theoretically be released to the public. My "releases" branch is the "master" branch in the model above, which I use for code that really makes it to a public release of R'n'D.
Besides that, I use quite a lot of short-lived bug and feature branches that I do not push to the public repository, as they contain unstable code. Such new things are available in the "master" branch as soon as the code has stabilized and was tested at least enough to be ready for public review.
So far I did not have any "hotfix" branches to fix bugs in release versions, but they surely will come (but won't be pushed to the public repository either, but only as updates to the "master" and "releases" branches).
As soon as a new release version is coming nearer, I think I will also create temporary "pre-release" branches that will also be pushed to the public repository (and be deleted on release of the corresponding new version of the game). (This would be a "release" branch in the model linked above, but I don't like the name "release" for code that is intended for a release, but is not released yet.)
> I'd recommend reading about the different common workflows that are used.
Very interesting read! Only halfway through, though.
Regarding GitHub, it must be really great, but I prefer to have things hosted on my own infrastructure after some unpleasant experience with services that disappeared from one day to another (not that I expect this to happen with GitHub any time soon, but remember that R'n'D has a long-time focus
).
Forking the R'n'D repository to GitHub and use it to make pull requests should still be possible, although not being that comfortable compared to not leaving the GitHub system, of course. Regarding bug trackers, I have not spend time on that matter for far. Still have to do that...