Darcs vs GitQlient

Darcs is a free, open-source version control system for Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted deployment. It organizes work around patches, or changes, instead of snapshots. Every working directory is its own repository, allowing users to record changes offline and push them to another repository later. Interactive commands let users select changes for a patch, pull individual changes, and edit or discard a patch before sending it. Branching works by pushing and pulling between repositories, with each repository treated as a branch. The darcs send command supports email collaboration, so maintainers can accept or reject proposed patches without granting commit privileges. The project names hub.darcs.net and darcsweb for repository hosting. Darcs is written in Haskell and can be installed through Cabal, Stack, Nix, platform binaries, or a source tarball. It is volunteer-run and a Software Freedom Conservancy member.

GitQlient is a free, multi-platform Git client written with Qt and originally forked from QGit. It can open several repositories at once, but handles each independently and has no cross-repository features. Its main view includes commits, work in progress, branches, tags, stashes, and submodules; quick actions cover pull, fetch, prune, push, and stash. Diff and blame/history views include file history and line blame. For conflicts from merge, pull, or cherry-pick operations, GitQlient opens a merge view, but conflicted files must be edited in a separate editor. The project lists GitHub and GitLab integration, including issue and pull-request creation from its platform menu, and describes an embedded text editor with C++ syntax highlighting. It works offline and is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The manual identifies it as free software under the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2 or later, without warranty. The macOS DMG is available, but that version is not tested due to lack of resources.