From: Kristoffer Haugsbakk Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2025 21:41:49 GMT Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/4] usage: help the user help themselves Message-ID: In-Reply-To: On Wed, Sep 3, 2025, at 23:21, Eric Sunshine wrote: >> I've seen "troubleshooting" questions from git users >> who got one of those long and well-described Hints >> like e.g. detached head and default git init branch >> when either the msg already spelled eveything out >> or the msg was purely informational. > > I didn't spell it out above, but what I had in mind was something very > simple... not at all ong and detailed; for instance: > > For interactive use, define a Git alias `git whatchanged` > which runs `git log --raw --no-merges`. But that won’t work since git-whatchanged(1) is a builtin and you cannot use an alias to shadow a builtin. Now you can suggest minor variations like `whatchange`. But then people will go back to talking about their finger memory.[1][2][3] You would need Peff’s: https://lore.kernel.org/git/20250830022718.GB567900@coredump.intra.peff.net/ > I wonder if we should loosen the "aliases cannot override builtins" rule > for deprecated commands. Perhaps something like the patch below. † 1: If people are adamant about a command staying exactly as it is for interactive use, I don’t imagine their tolerance for a slightly different invocation will be much higher. † 2: And I wonder about the audience who has been using a command which was deprecated for twelve years who also need to be reminded about aliases. † 3: But there is one `whatchange` conversion: https://lore.kernel.org/git/CAAn3O_2iHVt5TctvwLLSXm5Nw2wS8e9Xk0is1=k=-qRS=gHVMQ@mail.gmail.com/ -- Kristoffer Haugsbakk