Re: [PATCH] branch: delete now accepts '-' as branch name

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason <avarab@gmail.com> writes:

>> Continuing the "thinking aloud" a bit, I _think_ this tells us these
>> things:
>>
>>  * @{-1} has way too many letters to type to be liked by users, who
>>    won't learn or remember what they do not appreciate (and do not
>>    blame them---it is a bad notation).
>>
>>  * @{-<n>} may have been a generalized way that satisfied geeky mind
>>    while being implemented, but the users only need the "last one"
>>    and no such generalization.
>>
>> If it is too late for a more easy-to-type-and-pleasant-to-eyes
>> notation, perhaps "@-", that does not have downsides of "-" or
>> "@{-1}", I have to wonder.
>
> I too find the syntax really annoying to type.
>
> I wonder if we couldn't say that:
> ...

We could, but I do not think I like any of it, except for adding
"@-".  We learned that we do not need @{-4} generalization and
people only want "the last one" with nothing else.  It is repeating
the same mistake without learning any from the lesson to take any
random string that follows @ as if it is inside @{}, I am afraid.

P.S. It seems it is holiday around here and I hear it is at GitHub,
too, so I expect the day to be slow and my presence may be sporadic.