Re: [RFC/PATCH] revision.c: add --format option for 'git log'

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

On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 8:37 PM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
> Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> I understand the option should be kept for people that are used to it,
>
> It is not just that.  New people should learn existing lingo, as that is
> the word used in the existing documentation and various random web pages,
> so that they can use the same language when they teach people who are
> newer than themselves.

Yes, but the existing lingo is not perfect... I'm proposing this
particular lingo to be changed.

> If the existing word was not pretty (that came from "pretty-formatting")
> but something unpronouncible like '--gzxfw=short", then your argument
> might make some sense, but there is no such "breakage we need to fix"
> here.

It's not breakage that needs to be fixed, it's UI improvement, and one
guideline is that the interface needs to be intuitive and natural
(when possible). IMO pretty > gzxfw, but format > pretty. Don't you
think that --format=email is more natural than --pretty=email? I think
you are holding a bit too tight on the code reason why it's called
--pretty, but users shouldn't need to see the code in order to
understand why the naming of the options in git commands make sense.

-- 
Felipe Contreras