Re: (minor concern) git using the pager should not be a default

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Aug 29, 2012, 17:50 UTC
Message-ID: <7vd329wpt0.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <503E3CFE.1080603@sigmadesigns.com>

Emmanuel Michon <emmanuel_michon@sigmadesigns.com> writes:

> I believe UNIX recommends some rules in the «less is more» spirit when
> designing command line applications [basically listed here:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy].

That is exactly why our plumbing layer of commands (e.g. "git diff-tree", "git rev-list") do not page by default for people who want to go bare-metal Unix philosophy.

In other words, Porcelain (roughly speaking, those that page by default when their standard output is terminal), are not "command line applications"; they have a layer on top with a built-in UI.

If you follow Unix philosophy and want to combine tools each of which is designed to do one thing and one thing well, you would be using the commands from the plumbing layer to write your scripts, and wouldn't have to raise that "minor concern" in the first place, as they do not page by default ;-).