Re: [PATCH 2/4] commit: introduce a config key to allow as-is commit with i-t-a entries

> It still is not clear to me how best to sell this change to the end-user
> community.
>
> IIRC, the original motivation of intent-to-add "add -N" was in response to
> users who curse Git because they often forget to add new files before
> committing, and they wanted to say "Here I have a new file, it is not
> complete yet, but I do not want it left out of the commit. While my memory
> is fresh, let me tell Git to keep an eye on it, so that it can remind me
> if I forget to add the final contents."  For them, the current "did you
> forget to add them?  If so tell me the final contents for at least the
> paths you will be changing with this commit" error was a perfect safety
> solution.
>
> It turned out that the benefits described we see above in the context,
> "This is useful, among other things, ...", were of more value, and for
> these use cases, i-t-a entries ceased to mean "I may forget, so I am
> telling you now, please remind me when I say commit."  And "did you
> forget?" error is hinderance for them.
>
> But does that mean nobody will ever need "please remind me lest I forget"?
> Just the original requestor of the "add -N" feature may still be using
> git, but more importantly, isn't it the case that those who have been
> using it merely for the other side effect (e.g. 'git diff') sometimes want
> the "please remind me" safety?
>
> I suspect that some among 1 million Git users would want the "please
> remind me", so a solution with configuration variable without command line
> override is not ideal (command line without any configurability is fine as
> long as we have a good default).

> I am beginning to think "safety by default, which can be turned off by
> learned users, but still can be turned on on demand" may be a lot easier
> to sell this.  That is:
>
>  - commit.ignoreIntentToAdd defaults to `false`; the default will never
>   change.  The users can set it to `true`.
>
>  - "commit --ignore-intent-to-add" can be used without setting the
>   configuration or to defeat an explicit `false`, for a one-shot request.
>
>  - "commit --honor-intent-to-add" can be used to defeat an explicit
>   `true`, for a one-shot request.
>
> The third one is a bit funny, as it is a way to bring back safety when the
> user earlier decided that he does not need that kind of safety (i.e. "I
> only say 'add -N' for `diff` and stuff, I will never forget to add real
> contents before committing"), so it will almost never be used, because
> these users who set 'ignoreIntentToAdd = true' do _not_ expect Git to help
> them in remembering to add the real contents.  And having to add a funny
> option just for the sake of completeness is often an indication that there
> is something fundamentally wrong in the system that the option tries to
> express an interface into it.