Re: [PATCH v2 3/5] doc: git-checkout: don't use "reset"

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Sep 2, 2025, 16:10 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqv7m0ltsf.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To: <9d708558-df36-4bdd-a914-522228b27215@app.fastmail.com>

"Julia Evans" <julia@jvns.ca> writes:

> I'm surprised to hear you say that "reset" is one of the most often
> used Git commands -- what I frequently hear from Git users is that they
> use `git reset` only in "emergencies" where something has gone wrong
> and that they're afraid of using it.

For the list of commands that have been historically considered "common":

    $ git -h

is meant to serve a good guide. We may want to cull/update some entries (like, "backfill" which should not be more prominent than "maintenance", for example), but I think it is not far off or way too stale (for one thing, it no longer lists checkout but gives two separate commands, restore and switch, which are no longer marked as experimental).

Show 9 quoted lines

>>>  `git checkout --detach [<branch>]`::
>>>  `git checkout [--detach] <commit>`::
>>
>> This is in response to "transactional equivalent".  I've always felt
>> that there is no need to say "transactional" in this at all.  IOW, I
>> wouldn't have minded if we rewrote this more heavily.
>
> "Transactional equivalent" was bothering me too and I like the
> idea of rewriting it, will give it a shot.

Thanks.