Re: [PATCH v2 3/3] rev-parse: match ^{<type>} case-insensitively

From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date: Mar 27, 2017, 02:58 UTC
Message-ID: <20170327025818.pbm4nwqrfolyto7g@sigill.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To: <xmqq60iv4ku2.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com>

On Sun, Mar 26, 2017 at 05:36:21PM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 15 quoted lines

> It's not "potential confusion".  This closes the door for us to
> introduce "TREE" as a separate object type in the future.
> 
> If we agree to make a declaration that all typenames are officially
> spelled in lowercase [*1*] and at the UI level we accept typenames
> spelled in any case, then we can adopt this change (and then we need
> to update "cat-file -t" etc. to match it).
> 
> I do not at all mind to see if the list concensus is to make such a
> declaration and permanently close the door for typenames that are
> not lowercase, and after seeing such a concensus I'd gladly
> appreciate this patch, but I do not want to see a change like this
> that decides the future of the system, pretending as an innocuous
> change, sneaked in without making sure that everybody is aware of
> its implications.

FWIW, I cannot see us ever adding TREE (or Tree) as a separate type. It's too confusing for no gain. We'd call it "tree2" or something more obvious.

So I don't mind closing that door, but I'm not sure if a partial conversion (where some commands are case-insensitive but others aren't yet) might not leave us in a more confusing place.

I dunno. I guess I have never wanted to type "^{Tree}" in the first place, so I do not personally see the _benefit_. Which makes it easy to see even small negatives as a net loss.

-Peff