Re: [PATCH 2/2] pull: improve default warning

From: Alex Henrie <alexhenrie24@gmail.com>
Date: Jun 21, 2021, 21:47 UTC
Message-ID: <CAMMLpeRnUC+nOek=Kz6bj0_R6EUaDr=7ObKF01V641_ByOmk6A@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <60d0df99d91e1_108e902085e@natae.notmuch>

On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 12:51 PM Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> wrote:

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>
> Alex Henrie wrote:
> > On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 11:52 AM Felipe Contreras
> > <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > +                "If unsure, run \"git pull --no-rebase\".\n"
> >
> > I don't think the message should recommend merging over rebasing;
>
> This is the default strategy.

Yes, but it shouldn't be, and we shouldn't make the problem worse by encouraging people to default to merging without thinking.

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> > The eventual goal is to get rid of the default here and make the user
> > make an educated choice, which does imply some work on the user's
> > part, but it avoids the massive headaches created by users merging
> > without understanding what they're doing.
>
> Indeed, but any minute change in git's UI is a gargantuan task that
> takes several years--or even decades--to accomplish, if it ever happens.
> I started this patch in 2013, and here we are.

Although what needs to be done had been envisioned by some as early as 2013, the warning has only been around since Git 2.27 (released in June 2020), and it was only restricted to pulls where fast-forwarding is impossible in Git 2.31 (released in March 2021). The good news is that (unless I'm mistaken) there are no more changes that need to be made prior to changing the message from from "advise" to "die". All that needs to be done is to set a date to make the switch. For comparison, users were given from Git 1.8 to Git 2.0 (October 2012 to May 2014, 1 year and 7 months) to acclimate when push.default changed from "matching" to "simple". So how about we plan to stop merging by default in Git 2.40 (due around the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023), and update the warning message to advise the users of the pending behavioral change?

-Alex