Re: [PATCH 2/2] documentation: add documentation for 'git version'

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Sep 13, 2021, 19:43 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqq4kaofehr.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To: <87r1ds4t3w.fsf@evledraar.gmail.com>

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason <avarab@gmail.com> writes:

Show 9 quoted lines

>> +Note that `git --version` is identical to `git version` because the
>> +former is internally converted into the latter.
>
> Probably better to just have a new section:
>
> SEE ALSO
> --------
>
> linkgit:git[1]'s `--version` option, which dispatches to this command.

Hmph, I am not sure if this is a good move.

If we are not giving any more information than what the reader has already learned from this page, other than "git --version" does the same thing, we probably do not want to do this. By seeing also that other page, the user will not learn anything new about "git version".

If a related "git --version-something-else" is described over there and may fill the need the reader had when visiting this page, that is a different story, but I do not think it is the case.

Show 17 quoted lines

>> +OPTIONS
>> +-------
>> +--build-options::
>> +	Prints out additional information about how git was built for diagnostic
>> +	purposes.
>> +
>> +GIT
>> +---
>> +Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
>
>
> It would also be good to update git.txt, which now says:
>
>     Prints the Git suite version that the git program came from
>
> To say e.g. "Dispatches to linkgit:git-version[1], prints the git
> program version".

This one may be a good idea, I think.

"git --version --build-options" also works and we do not want to clutter git[1] with descriptions on suboptions of "git version".

If we are not doing so for the "--help" option in git[1], we should do so as well.

Thanks.