Indeed you could even think of them as embodying the "proof of work" principle in that you naturally look for the branch with the most work done to find the true Schelling point fork for your own contributions.
(By the way, I often see these two points in the same thread: "blockchains should be replaced with centralized SQL databases" and "Git repositories are just like blockchains" which makes me wonder if Git repositories also ought to be replaced with centralized SQL databases.)
> blockchains should be replaced with centralized SQL databases
Blockchains whose tokens are subject to the authority of a central issuer anyway should be replaced with centralized SQL databases. Bitcoin/namecoin/etc. can't be replaced with centralized databases. FBCoin can, as can any blockchain that is supposed to track meatspace resources(since physical resources are subject to the authority of the local government/men with guns anyway).
> Git repositories are just like blockchains
Nope, I don't consider this to be true. Blockchains are supposed to have decentralized consensus and allow arbitrary nodes to propose changes.
The purpose of using a blockchain scheme to issue a centralized liability is probably to increase trust in the system due to the public verifiability of issuance and transfers.
Seems to me that "trust" is the last thing the average joe would associate cryptocurrency with. A database with a public audit trail might be a better idea if you want that, but that certainly doesn't sound as trendy and exciting as "blockchain".
Indeed, the blockchain concept is more exciting and understandable for a lot of people, so in that sense branding their consortium-controlled cryptographically verifiable ledger as a blockchain seems like a good PR decision.
Well git model has a lot of issues with scaling repo size - git extensions like GVFS and LFS are used to remedy the problem but they break the decentralized part so you have this hybrid solutions.
(By the way, I often see these two points in the same thread: "blockchains should be replaced with centralized SQL databases" and "Git repositories are just like blockchains" which makes me wonder if Git repositories also ought to be replaced with centralized SQL databases.)