From: "Julia Evans via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>, Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
Subject: [PATCH 1/5] doc: git-add: remove options from SYNOPSIS
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2025 20:07:25 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <3a2cc38b72fb0f6ccc0ec9cbefadb7576cd8b934.1755029249.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.1952.git.1755029249.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
Motivations for this change:
1. Listing a huge number of options is visually overwhelming when
opening a man page for an unfamiliar command. It makes it harder
to understand the command's core syntax, like `git add <filename>`
2. For options which can be passed independently of any other options,
including them in the SYNOPSIS does not add any information which you
can't already get from reading the OPTIONS section. `git add` has
some mutually exclusive options, namely:
[--[no-]all | -A | --[no-]ignore-removal | [--update | -u]]
but personally I already find that line so hard to parse that
removing it doesn't remove a lot of information
3. Some man pages already take this approach, like `git rebase` and
`git status`
Signed-off-by: Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca>
---
Documentation/git-add.adoc | 6 +-----
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-add.adoc b/Documentation/git-add.adoc
index b7a735824d6c..12afeead6637 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-add.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-add.adoc
@@ -8,11 +8,7 @@ git-add - Add file contents to the index
SYNOPSIS
--------
[synopsis]
-git add [--verbose | -v] [--dry-run | -n] [--force | -f] [--interactive | -i] [--patch | -p]
- [--edit | -e] [--[no-]all | -A | --[no-]ignore-removal | [--update | -u]] [--sparse]
- [--intent-to-add | -N] [--refresh] [--ignore-errors] [--ignore-missing] [--renormalize]
- [--chmod=(+|-)x] [--pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]]
- [--] [<pathspec>...]
+git add [<options>] [--] [<pathspec>...]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
--
gitgitgadget
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2025-08-12 20:07 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 59+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-08-12 20:07 [PATCH 0/5] doc: git-add: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-12 20:07 ` Julia Evans via GitGitGadget [this message]
2025-08-12 20:41 ` [PATCH 1/5] doc: git-add: remove options from SYNOPSIS Junio C Hamano
2025-08-13 16:58 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-13 20:47 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2025-08-12 20:07 ` [PATCH 2/5] doc: git-add: start man page with an example Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-12 21:01 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-12 21:40 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-12 22:12 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-12 22:45 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-13 17:22 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-14 0:41 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-14 2:59 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-15 5:38 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-12 20:07 ` [PATCH 3/5] doc: git-add: simplify discussion of ignored files Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-13 17:24 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-12 20:07 ` [PATCH 4/5] doc: git-add: make explanation less dry Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-12 20:07 ` [PATCH 5/5] doc: git-add: explain inconsistent terminology Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-12 20:51 ` Chris Torek
2025-08-12 21:36 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-12 21:43 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-13 23:20 ` [PATCH v2 0/4] doc: git-add: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-13 23:20 ` [PATCH v2 1/4] doc: git-add: start man page with an example Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-15 0:38 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-15 13:34 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2025-08-15 16:33 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-17 18:37 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2025-08-19 20:01 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-13 23:20 ` [PATCH v2 2/4] doc: git-add: simplify discussion of ignored files Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-14 0:59 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-14 22:10 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-13 23:20 ` [PATCH v2 3/4] doc: git-add: make explanation less dry Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-14 22:22 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-15 16:10 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-15 18:25 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-15 20:01 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-16 14:15 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-15 19:47 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-19 12:57 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-21 20:36 ` Jean-Noël AVILA
2025-08-13 23:20 ` [PATCH v2 4/4] doc: git-add: explain inconsistent terminology Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-14 22:49 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-19 20:09 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-19 20:46 ` [PATCH v3 0/3] doc: git-add: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-19 20:46 ` [PATCH v3 1/3] Git 2.51 Junio C Hamano via GitGitGadget
2025-08-19 21:06 ` rsbecker
2025-08-19 21:37 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-19 21:44 ` D. Ben Knoble
2025-08-19 21:48 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-19 21:49 ` rsbecker
2025-08-19 20:46 ` [PATCH v3 2/3] doc: git-add: clarify intro & add an example Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-21 20:08 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-22 20:37 ` Julia Evans
2025-08-19 20:46 ` [PATCH v3 3/3] doc: git-add: simplify discussion of ignored files Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-21 20:09 ` Junio C Hamano
2025-08-29 11:55 ` [PATCH v4 0/2] doc: git-add: clarify DESCRIPTION section Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 11:55 ` [PATCH v4 1/2] doc: git-add: clarify intro & add an example Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 11:55 ` [PATCH v4 2/2] doc: git-add: simplify discussion of ignored files Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
2025-08-29 17:11 ` [PATCH v4 0/2] doc: git-add: clarify DESCRIPTION section Junio C Hamano
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