Re: [PATCH 3/3] Fixes bug: GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE is no not respect diff.ignoreSubmodules config variable

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: Dec 27, 2010, 22:06 UTC
Message-ID: <alpine.DEB.1.00.1012272256560.1794@bonsai2>
In-Reply-To: <4D187511.3090104@web.de>

Hi Jens,

On Mon, 27 Dec 2010, Jens Lehmann wrote:

> [...]
>
> And it looks like the PS1 problem that started this discussion is a
> valid example for mixed usage of porcelain and plumbing commands.

The distinction between porcelain and plumbing commands is not as clear-cut as some people would like it to be (just call "git grep 'git log'" in a git.git checkout). IMHO the reason is that a distinction between porcelain and plumbing makes sense in the world of sanitary engineering, but not necessarily in the world of software (a distinction between assembler vs source code, or GUI vs library makes sense, but not between "programs to be called by humans" and "programs to be called by other programs").

Note: I do not think that the "plumbing" concept was not well-intended, 
but I doubt that the concept holds up in the face of reality.

I fear, though, that we cannot simply abolish the notion "plumbing vs porcelain" from git.git...

Ciao, Dscho