Totally agree. At best this rebase talk is navel-gazing, and at worst it's a technique that turns Git into a complicated, scary place for those just want to get work done.

I have introduced git and hg to many people, but I've always tried to tie it into what people do already. Without source control, practically everybody did the same thing: They'd work a little bit, they'd save, they'd work a little bit, they'd save... etc. Using branching for organizing work and a nice cheat-sheet of a few git commands, most non-technical people will be off-and-running.

It all works until the programmers make it complicated with the rebasing. The price of the tidy commit history is the loss of confidence of the rest of the team. I'd rather have the people.

Case in point: https://vimeo.com/60788996