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Re: Understanding why Git defaults to show author date and not committer date

From
Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date
Jul 11, 2026, 08:03 UTC
Message-ID
<20260711080331.GB1470749@coredump.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To
<CAP9es6tyaGwfTguz5zgBmE5xN7MLDN3-rxRfo_JJBf79RCNzgg@mail.gmail.com>
On Fri, Jul 10, 2026 at 05:08:11PM +0200, Omri Sarig wrote:
Show 8 quoted lines
> I understand the distinction between the 2 formats, and I can see the utility of
> both. I'm curious about the decision to show the author date and not the
> committer date as default one in Git commands.
> Are there some workflows where the author date is more relevant, or is that
> mostly a legacy decision?
> 
> I'd be interested in hearing about workflows where the author date is the more
> useful one, as I use the committer date almost always.

In a workflow based on mailing patches, the committer date is usually much less interesting. It is "when the maintainer happened to pick up your patch", as opposed to when you wrote it. Likewise, we show the author's name by default, not the committer's.

-Peff
Previous: Omri SarigNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 2 of 4 in “Understanding why Git defaults to show author date and not committer date”
  1. Omri SarigJul 10, 2026
  2. Jeff KingJul 11, 2026
  3. Junio C HamanoJul 11, 2026
  4. Oswald BuddenhagenJul 12, 2026

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