Re: [PATCH 0/2] Support diff.wordDiff config

From: Olliver Schinagl <oliver@schinagl.nl>
Date: Mar 22, 2024, 22:08 UTC
Message-ID: <6e035003-0c08-4e44-811c-27d2cebe9fa8@schinagl.nl>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqle6zw6om.fsf@gitster.g>

On 03-03-2024 18:45, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 20 quoted lines

> Chris Torek <chris.torek@gmail.com> writes:
> 
>> This tension is relieved somewhat when there *are* separate
>> plumbing commands, such as `git diff-index` and `git diff-tree`
>> and so on, or `git rev-list` vs `git log`. Unfortunately there
>> are some commands, including `git log` itself, that have options
>> that are missing from the roughly-equivalent plumbing command,
>> and there are commands (such as `git stash` and `git status`)
>> that either do not have, or at one time lacked, plumbing command
>> equivalents or options.
> 
> Yup.  It is my pet peeve that more and more contributors got lazy
> and tweaked only Porcelain commands, without bothering to improve
> plumbing commands to match, while adding more features during the
> last decade.  Unfortunately there is no easy remedy after such sins
> have been committed.  Once people start using `git log` in their
> scripts, it is way too late to tell them to update their scripts to
> use `git log --porcelain`.  The fact that you need to tell them is
> an admission that you already broke their scripts.
>

To avoid this request from dieing quietly, I will ask (complain) again. Who's the client for. How important is the human UX?

Even introducing a new cli, 'git-cli-for-humans' it will be abused again for sure. So what's a good way forward? Personally, as I mentioned before, it's in the docs to not script around non-plumbing commands, which gives an opening to the admission. And why is admitting things a bad thing, when it improves things for the human? Even if it hurts.

One could argue 'git3 will break things! Human and machine control is split. Use --porcelain (or plumbing commands) in your scripts or expect breakage from time to time. You have been warned!'

We do in the end want progress, do we not? :)

Olliver