Re: git-show --stat on first commit

From: Peter Baumann <peter.b.baumann@stud.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
Date: Nov 21, 2006, 17:11 UTC
Message-ID: <slrnem6cpn.6vh.Peter.B.Baumann@xp.machine.xx>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0611210820100.3338@woody.osdl.org>

On 2006-11-21, Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> wrote:

Show 10 quoted lines

>
>
> On Tue, 21 Nov 2006, Peter Baumann wrote:
>> 
>> Why not make --root the default? I also stumbled over this behaviour and
>> even asked on this list.
>
> I suspect we should make the thing a config option, and default it to 
> "on".
>

That would be great.

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> I personally do _not_ want to see the root commit, because for the kernel, 
> it's a honking huge import that does not make sense as a "diff". It's not 
> really a diff against anything, after all - it's an import.
>
> That's really the reason why git defaults to not showing the root diff at 
> all: exactly because for the kernel, the initial commit was state that 
> "just came to be", and I found it both illogical and annoying to see it as 
> a diff, since that commit really was a "black hole" where previous history 
> just disappeared.
>
> But if you have the _full_ history with a new project, "--root" by default 
> probably makes tons of sense.
>

I am aware of the import problem, especially from the kernel history.

And I think handling this behaviour as a config option is the right thing, because most of the time if someone imports a project into git he will import the whole history, especially if he is using one of the cvs/svn importers. A "halfway import" as seen in the kernel repo is a special case and it is unlikely seen again.

Peter