From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Keith Cascio Subject: Re: backwards compatibility, was Re: [PATCH v1 1/3] Introduce config variable "diff.primer" Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:01:33 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: References: <1232904657-31831-1-git-send-email-keith@cs.ucla.edu> <1232904657-31831-2-git-send-email-keith@cs.ucla.edu> <7v1vurf7lq.fsf@gitster.siamese.dyndns.org> <20090126031206.GB14277@sigill.intra.peff.net> <20090126111605.GB19993@coredump.intra.peff.net> <20090126115957.GA20558@coredump.intra.peff.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Cc: Johannes Schindelin , git@vger.kernel.org To: Jeff King X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Tue Jan 27 04:03:09 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git-2@gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.176.167]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1LReEF-0007i3-JE for gcvg-git-2@gmane.org; Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:03:08 +0100 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1752580AbZA0DBm (ORCPT ); Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:01:42 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1752241AbZA0DBm (ORCPT ); Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:01:42 -0500 Received: from Kiwi.CS.UCLA.EDU ([131.179.128.19]:64619 "EHLO kiwi.cs.ucla.edu" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751977AbZA0DBl (ORCPT ); Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:01:41 -0500 Received: from kiwi.cs.ucla.edu (localhost.cs.ucla.edu [127.0.0.1]) by kiwi.cs.ucla.edu (8.13.8+Sun/8.13.8/UCLACS-6.0) with ESMTP id n0R31Ygm023241; Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:01:34 -0800 (PST) Received: from localhost (keith@localhost) by kiwi.cs.ucla.edu (8.13.8+Sun/8.13.8/Submit) with ESMTP id n0R31Yl3023238; Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:01:34 -0800 (PST) X-Authentication-Warning: kiwi.cs.ucla.edu: keith owned process doing -bs In-Reply-To: <20090126115957.GA20558@coredump.intra.peff.net> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (GSO 1167 2008-08-23) Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: On Mon, 26 Jan 2009, Jeff King wrote: > Yep, that's what defaults are. And guess what: we _already_ have the same > thing. I have diff.renames set in my ~/.gitconfig. That does _exactly_ what > > git config --global diff.primer -M > > would do. It's just a syntax that saves us from having to introduce a boatload > of new variables, one per command line option. Great point, IOW, primer magnifies already existing pitfalls. I like that about primer v1, however unsatisfying it is otherwise. Rather than stick a piece of chewing gum in that chink in the dam, let's repair it and get the whole darn thing ready for the 21st century while we're at it. > However, there are two other drawbacks of aliases that I can think of: > 1. They are tied to a specific command, whereas diff options are tied > to the concept of diffing. So now I have to write an alias (with a > new name) for each command: > git config alias.mylog 'log -w' > git config alias.mydiff 'diff -w' > git config alias.myshow 'show -w' > 2. They can't change defaults based on the file to be diffed. One of > the things Keith mentioned (and I don't remember if this was > implemented in his patch series) was supporting this for > gitattributes diff drivers. How do I do > git config diff.tex.primer -w > using aliases? This scenario was specifically part of my motivation for imagining primer v1 as I did. > But now you have me defending Keith's proposal And well. > which he should be doing himself ;P True. I'm at the point here where I will demand of myself one of two outcomes. Either I: (1) Satisfy myself on a deep, foundational level why the inescapable structure of not just this particularly well-constituted software project (Git!), but software projects in general, since surely many a fearless development team has braved this philosophical sticky place before us, prevents one from getting everything one wants, i.e. forces a compromise, a.k.a. the "no silver bullet" interpretation. (2) Write primer patch v2 that somehow does THE RIGHT THING, also satisfying on a deep level to at least myself, a.k.a. the silver bullet. -- Keith