From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:05:36 GMT
Subject: Re: [PATCH] user-manual: mention git gui citool (commit, amend)
Message-ID: <7vodhpscrz.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.cox.net>
In-Reply-To: <20070802181853.GB31885@fieldses.org>

"J. Bruce Fields" <bfields@fieldses.org> writes:

> I wonder whether we could get away with just the brief list of features
> ("lets you view changes in the index and the working file, lets you
> individually select diff hunks for inclusion in the index"), and leave
> the how-to stuff to online guit-gui help, if it's necessary?

Let's do that.

> Also, I like the verb "stage" as a way to explain the part of the index
> file in creating commits, but I've been consistently using the word
> "index" throughout the user manual, and I think that's consistent with
> the rest of the documentation--so don't avoid it here.

I tend to agree.  The verb "to stage" is really just a way to
say "the act of adding contents to the index" and explain what
it implies (i.e. "prepare it to be included in the next commit").
Saying "you can _think_ of the index as a staging area" is fine,
but the official name of that thing is "the index", and I do not
think avoiding that term adds clarity to the documentation.