Re: Suggestion: make git checkout safer

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Jun 3, 2015, 21:29 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqiob4wkem.fsf@gitster.dls.corp.google.com>
In-Reply-To: <20150603190616.GA28488@peff.net>

Jeff King <peff@peff.net> writes:

Show 5 quoted lines

> On Wed, Jun 03, 2015 at 10:32:40AM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:
>
> Yeah, I'd say "cp -i" is the closest thing. I don't have a problem with
> adding that, but I'd really hate for it to be the default (just as I
> find distros which "alias rm='rm -i" annoying).

Oh, no question about it.

I think a typical user cease to be a newbie before having to type "-i" every time starts to annoy her, and instead will learn to use the tool more effectively and efficiently [*1*], so making "-i" default is not good not just for you but for everybody.

[Footnote]

*1* In the context of this discussion, after screwing up the change
    in hello.c, instead of expressing the wish to recover and to
    start from scratch in two separate commands, i.e.

	rm hello.c && update-from-scm

    they will learn to use a single command that is designed for
    that purpose, i.e.

	checkout-from-scm hello.c

    without the "rm" step, which _is_ an artificial workaround for
    their other SCMs that do not update from the repository unless
    they remove the files.