# Git pager woes 4 messages from 2008-10-07 to 2008-10-07. Participants: J.R. Mauro, Andreas Ericsson, Matthieu Moy. Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/15811 ## J.R. Mauro, 2008-10-07 13:43 Subject: Git pager woes Message-ID: <3aaafc130810070643m352ea2ufa1069dc149f0d9e@mail.gmail.com> URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/3aaafc130810070643m352ea2ufa1069dc149f0d9e%40mail.gmail.com ``` Git doesn't set special options to it's pager command if the LESS environment variable is set. I noticed when I started using Gentoo that git was putting all output into a pager even if it were less than one page, which it didn't do under Ubuntu. A fellow Gentoo user confirms this; apparently Gentoo's defaults set LESS, but without a -F. Should git always tack on a -F when it invokes less, or should this be put on the user to look up what to do? Or should I go complain to the Gentoo folks? ``` ## Andreas Ericsson, 2008-10-07 14:23 Subject: Re: Git pager woes Message-ID: <48EB70C4.1070001@op5.se> URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/48EB70C4.1070001%40op5.se In-Reply-To: <3aaafc130810070643m352ea2ufa1069dc149f0d9e@mail.gmail.com> ``` J.R. Mauro wrote: > Git doesn't set special options to it's pager command if the LESS > environment variable is set. I noticed when I started using Gentoo > that git was putting all output into a pager even if it were less than > one page, which it didn't do under Ubuntu. A fellow Gentoo user > confirms this; apparently Gentoo's defaults set LESS, but without a > -F. > > Should git always tack on a -F when it invokes less, or should this be > put on the user to look up what to do? Or should I go complain to the > Gentoo folks? Go complain to Gentoo. If the user has set it explicitly (even if that happens behind the user's back), we absolutely mustn't fiddle with it. -- Andreas Ericsson andreas.ericsson@op5.se OP5 AB www.op5.se Tel: +46 8-230225 Fax: +46 8-230231 ``` ## J.R. Mauro, 2008-10-07 14:24 Subject: Re: Git pager woes Message-ID: <3aaafc130810070724q2621a90ey2435fec3ef6e15a0@mail.gmail.com> URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/3aaafc130810070724q2621a90ey2435fec3ef6e15a0%40mail.gmail.com In-Reply-To: <48EB70C4.1070001@op5.se> ``` Ok. Thanks. ``` ## Matthieu Moy, 2008-10-07 14:30 Subject: Re: Git pager woes Message-ID: URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/vpqbpxwxysu.fsf%40bauges.imag.fr In-Reply-To: <3aaafc130810070643m352ea2ufa1069dc149f0d9e@mail.gmail.com> ``` "J.R. Mauro" writes: > Git doesn't set special options to it's pager command if the LESS > environment variable is set. Yes, this is by design: if you customized less, git obeys the configuration you've set. Otherwise, it takes a default wich is more appropriate to git that what "less" does without $LESS set. That policy isn't perfect, but I think any other would be worse: I wouldn'l like git to change my configuration if I did set $LESS myself, and I also prefer git's default to LESS default when it comes to paging git commands (but I like less's default for other uses, for example, I like the man page to disapear when I close it). -- Matthieu ```