From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Jonathan Nieder Subject: Re: Command-line interface thoughts Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2011 14:11:52 -0500 Message-ID: <20110607191152.GB24929@elie> References: <201106051311.00951.jnareb@gmail.com> <7vwrgza3i2.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org> <4DEC8322.6040200@drmicha.warpmail.net> <7vk4cz9i1b.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org> <4DECE147.3060808@drmicha.warpmail.net> <7vd3ir9btd.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org> <4DEDC124.3060302@drmicha.warpmail.net> <20110607114526.GA9846@elie> <4DEE755C.8030108@ira.uka.de> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: Michael J Gruber , Junio C Hamano , Scott Chacon , Jakub Narebski , Michael Nahas , git@vger.kernel.org To: Holger Hellmuth X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Tue Jun 07 21:12:11 2011 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git-2@lo.gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.180.67]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1QU1h7-00011j-CO for gcvg-git-2@lo.gmane.org; Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:12:05 +0200 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1758075Ab1FGTMA (ORCPT ); Tue, 7 Jun 2011 15:12:00 -0400 Received: from mail-iy0-f174.google.com ([209.85.210.174]:35094 "EHLO mail-iy0-f174.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753055Ab1FGTL7 (ORCPT ); Tue, 7 Jun 2011 15:11:59 -0400 Received: by iyb14 with SMTP id 14so4263706iyb.19 for ; Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:11:58 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:date:from:to:cc:subject:message-id:references :mime-version:content-type:content-disposition:in-reply-to :user-agent; bh=H0CBsQ/HSpZYjyXuJJW68BLVNXW99nKlkxIiz/aaZ3U=; b=UvyeWXbokuChxMBCocuFie18uFjaTk0G9KH0T0zUQTg8z7VtBelv7AaHkAO+DzIch4 nkdyXvHGCsHYoKrSfKvjmY0o/e4E6+CUc5PumGxTQBY9HDa6l3OD0Jt8auxlgCJd0RXm rJWucVx49KZSU0eUSmKmebcnWcXQFG2PoSU4A= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=date:from:to:cc:subject:message-id:references:mime-version :content-type:content-disposition:in-reply-to:user-agent; b=hm6Dxtk+zI/q0QmOHgrdy3gUokNcfqe9golUzPUGFbNHenvRWfyVYMDKRb6fyrwjb4 rHedh6O+6ch/Owxt+bOu/NCxmIMHJJYWG5YVTpnhwnn0Lz/R8mBC73vJPI4sMI08QSPF ff1+AUoF5yhujH8cgVKKMt7Fo7Fs22f+M/bT0= Received: by 10.231.112.88 with SMTP id v24mr10421434ibp.80.1307473917853; Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:11:57 -0700 (PDT) Received: from elie (adsl-68-255-98-24.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net [68.255.98.24]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id 10sm2274885ibn.54.2011.06.07.12.11.55 (version=SSLv3 cipher=OTHER); Tue, 07 Jun 2011 12:11:56 -0700 (PDT) Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <4DEE755C.8030108@ira.uka.de> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: Holger Hellmuth wrote: > If someone finds the three-way diff completely mystifiying, how do > you expect him to resolve a merge conflict at all? Or recognize that > there is one? Or find the command to use after editing out the > conflict markers? > > A novice user will have no real mental model anyway. Yes, I think you're getting closer to the point I was trying to make. A novice will have a naive mental model, and a good user interface needs to be close to it but not too close. Close because the UI must be intuitive on its own. Not too close because a good UI will help in leading such a person to productive ways of thinking and working, by making common tasks convenient. So much for generalities.