Re: feature request

From: John Rood <mr.john.rood@gmail.com>
Date: Oct 27, 2016, 22:44 UTC
Message-ID: <CALj-rGfAyimf0nFFcDHVHUgj8PQaz6Cvoz_PQfqdhr=QJEpbRw@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAGZ79ka7BvaW2pkjeXe68yKHFq6JsH__x2cXoe6U4tRmZ0rY1A@mail.gmail.com>

Thanks, I think changing the default for windows is a good idea.

The -m indeed accomplishes one-line messages when you are voluntarily doing a commit. However, the scenario I mentioned is "When users pull commits, and a new commit needs to be created for the merge" In this situation, the user isn't issuing the "git commit" command, and so he/she doesn't have the opportunity to use the -m flag.

On Thu, Oct 27, 2016 at 5:30 PM, Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com> wrote:

Show 42 quoted lines

> On Thu, Oct 27, 2016 at 2:55 PM, John Rood <mr.john.rood@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Users should be able to configure Git to not send them into a Vim editor.
>>
>> When users pull commits, and a new commit needs to be created for a
>> merge, Git's current way of determining a commit message is to send
>> the user into a Vim window so that they can write a message. There are
>> 2 reasons why this might not be the ideal way to prompt for a commit
>> message.
>>
>> 1. Many users are used to writing concise one-line commit messages and
>> would not expect to save a commit message in a multi-line file. Some
>> users will wonder why they are in a text editor or which file they are
>> editing. Others may not, in fact, realize at all that a text editor is
>> what they are in.
>
> Look at the -m option of git commit,
>
> git commit -a -m "look a commit with no editor, and a precise one line message"
>
> I do not advocate this use though, as I think commit messages should be
> more wordy.
>
>>
>> 2. Many users are not familiar with Vim, and do not understand how to
>> modify, save, and exit. It is not very considerate to require a user
>> to learn Vim in order to finish a commit that they are in the middle
>> of.
>
> That is true, but vi is like the most available editor as a relict
> from ancient times;
> as you are on Windows, maybe notepad is the best on that platform.
>
> Maybe file a bug/issue at https://github.com/git-for-windows to change
> the default?
>
>>
>> The existing behavior should be optional, and there should be two new options:
>>
>> 1. Use a simple inline prompt for a commit message (in the same way
>> Git might prompt for a username).
>>
>> 2. Automatically assign names for commits in the form of "Merged x into y".