Re: [PATCH v4 0/2] launch_editor(): indicate that Git waits for user input

From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date: Nov 30, 2017, 20:12 UTC
Message-ID: <20171130201217.GA3578@sigill.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To: <20171129183514.wze5trxjfgqxqs7z@laptop.local>

On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 06:35:16PM +0000, Thomas Adam wrote:

Show 9 quoted lines

> On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 03:37:50PM +0100, lars.schneider@autodesk.com wrote:
> > +		if (print_waiting_for_editor) {
> > +			fprintf(stderr, _("hint: Waiting for your editor input..."));
> >  			fflush(stderr);
> 
> Just FYI, stderr is typically unbuffered on most systems I've used, and
> although the call to fflush() is harmless, I suspect it's not having any
> effect.  That said, there's plenty of other places in Git which seems to think
> fflush()ing stderr actually does something.

I'd prefer to keep them (including this one), even if they are noops on most platforms, because:

  1. They serve as a note for readers of the code that it's important
     for the output to have been printed immediately.

  2. We build on some funny and antique platforms. I wouldn't be
     surprised if there's one that line buffers by default. Or even a
     modern system with funny settings (e.g., using the GNU stdbuf
     tool).

(I know you said later you don't think this case needs to be removed, but I want to make it clear I think it's a reasonable project-wide policy to not assume we we know how stderr is buffered).

-Peff