Re: [PATCH 1/2] user-manual: Simplify the user configuration.

[Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com>]

On Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 3:42 PM, Johannes Schindelin
<Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On Sat, 24 Jan 2009, Felipe Contreras wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 8:59 PM, Hannu Koivisto <azure@iki.fi> wrote:
>> > Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> writes:
>> >
>> >> On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 6:17 PM, Hannu Koivisto <azure@iki.fi> wrote:
>> >>> Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> writes:
>> >>>
>> >>>> This brings back my previous question: where is the home directory in
>> >>>> a Windows system?
>> >>>
>> >>> It's where %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% points to.
>> >>
>> >> I thought it was something like that. Do we want something like that
>> >> in the manual, or should we assume Windows users know that?
>> >
>> > I should have added that Unix programs (i.e. Cygwin programs and
>> > even some native ports) probably use %HOME% which may be different
>> > from %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%.  I recall that if you haven't
>> > explicitly set up HOME in Windows environment, Cygwin sets it up
>> > magically from passwd or falls back to %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%.  I
>> > have no idea if msysgit respects %HOME% if it is set or always uses
>> > %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% or something completely different (user
>> > profile, most likely).
>> >
>> > It certainly may be that "home directory" is a foreign concept to
>> > some Windows users.  Some might know it as a user profile or a
>> > personal folder (just guessing, I'm pretty isolated from less
>> > experienced Windows users), even though user profile is a separate
>> > concept from "home directory" (note that there is %USERPROFILE%
>> > which by default is the same as %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH% at least in
>> > XP).
>> >
>> > In any case, what Cygwin git does should be expected by Cygwin
>> > users.  If msysgit wanted to be a really native Windows application
>> > and store the configuration where Microsoft thinks it should be
>> > stored, it probably shouldn't store the config under "home
>> > directory" to begin with (I'm guessing that's what it does) but
>> > under %USERPROFILE\Application Data\Git (...FILE\Local
>> > Settings\... in case non-roaming storage is wanted).  And in that
>> > case the manual might be misleading for msysgit users.  See
>> > e.g. <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms995853.aspx>.
>>
>> Isn't that enough argument to stop assuming the user knows where is
>> the "home directory"?
>
> Why does it appear as if we always have to bend over for Windows?  That is
> really frustrating.
>
> In any case, the only thing the user would need to know the location of
> $HOME for is for .gitconfig.  And for Windows users I suggest using the
> dialog in git gui (for the variables that are editable there), which
> should cover most of what the user needs.  For everything else, they
> should use "git config".
>
> Because if you really start with explaining where the home can be on
> Windows, you would also have to cover why "%USERPROFILE%" does not work in
> Git bash.  And before you know what is happening, you have a big ass
> Windows chapter in the user manual that revolves around anything except
> Git.

Huh? That was exactly my point.

It's much easier for everyone to just use git config --global than
explain how create and edit the .gitconfig file. If this is explained
it shouldn't be in the "Telling git your name" section.

-- 
Felipe Contreras