Amusing comparison; there are certainly some parallels! There are a couple of articles on the Git repository format that jumped to mind as I read the first couple of paragraphs:

- http://eagain.net/articles/git-for-computer-scientists/
- http://keithp.com/blogs/Repository_Formats_Matter/

I think I found the first of those at some point in the past, but it didn't manage to banish my fear of git. I'm not sure exactly why; it's difficult to put into words what it is that I understand now but didn't get from that article.