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Re: [PATCH 1/2] Documentation/git-checkout.txt: clarify usage

From
Andrew Ardill <andrew.ardill@gmail.com>
Date
Dec 18, 2012, 01:29 UTC
Message-ID
<CAH5451kpNYqJ99Lepjyq8-KEM1D3zeao1gSx05Q7LWWdE_=8jw@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<7vobhsjq6a.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
On 18 December 2012 08:59, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
Show 12 quoted lines
> Andrew Ardill <andrew.ardill@gmail.com> writes:
>> Even if the primary purpose of "git checkout <branch>" is to "check
>> out the branch so that further work is done on that branch", I don't
>> believe that means it has to be stated first. In fact, I would say
>> that there are enough other use cases that the language should be
>> slightly more use-case agnostic in the first situation. For example,
>> someone might switch to another branch or commit simply to see what
>> state the tree was in at that point.
>
> I've been deliberately avoiding the term "switch", actually.  I
> agree that it may be familiar to people with prior exposure to
> subversion, but that is not the primary audience of the manual.

I don't have much experience with svn, so I didn't make that connection. Independent of svn usage, what is wrong with the term 'switch'?

I would be interested to hear how translators communicate the checkout concept, as I assume the word checkout doesn't exist in many languages. For me, switching between revisions is a natural way of phrasing the action, but perhaps there is a better way of saying the same thing?

Show 10 quoted lines
>> Some people use checkout to
>> deploy a tag of the working tree onto a production server. The first
>> example in particular is, I think, a common enough operation that
>> restricting the opening lines of documentation to talking about
>> building further work is misleading.
>
> I agree with you that sightseeing use case where you do not intend
> to make any commit is also important.  That is exactly why I said
> "further work is done on that branch" not "to that branch" in the
> message you are responding to.

Ah ok, I didn't pick up on that nuance. Your suggestion from earlier has, for example, "Prepare to work on building new history on <branch>" which *is* excluding that use case. Perhaps modifying similar lines to something like "Prepare to work with the repository/history/something from <branch>" or maybe just "Prepare to work with <branch>" would better encapsulate those use cases. Following lines would expand on what it means to work with a branch or commit, and the technical details of updates to the repositories current state.

Regards,
Andrew Ardill
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 14 of 23 in “Documentation: clarify usage of checkout”
  1. 0/2 Documentation: clarify usage of checkoutChris Rorvick, Dec 17, 2012
  2. 1/2 Documentation/git-checkout.txt: clarify usageChris Rorvick, Dec 17, 2012
  3. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2012
  4. Johannes SixtDec 17, 2012
  5. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2012
  6. Johannes SixtDec 17, 2012
  7. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2012
  8. Andrew ArdillDec 17, 2012
  9. Chris RorvickDec 18, 2012
  10. Philip OakleyDec 17, 2012
  11. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2012
  12. Andrew ArdillDec 17, 2012
  13. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2012
  14. Andrew ArdillDec 18, 2012
  15. Junio C HamanoDec 18, 2012
  16. Andrew ArdillDec 18, 2012
  17. Chris RorvickDec 18, 2012
  18. Junio C HamanoDec 18, 2012
  19. Philip OakleyDec 17, 2012
  20. 2/2 Documentation/git-checkout.txt: document 70c9ac2 behaviorChris Rorvick, Dec 17, 2012
  21. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2012
  22. Andrew ArdillDec 17, 2012
  23. Junio C HamanoDec 17, 2012

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