shared gitconfig

[Jonathan M Davis]

On Sunday, January 06, 2013 18:12:20 Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> On 1/6/13 6:02 PM, Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> > On Sunday, January 06, 2013 17:45:29 Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> >> I get these tidbits of commands - git idioms - all the time, and I
> >> forget them because I don't use them frequently. I don't see why it's a
> >> crime to want to define some macros for such idioms instead of
> >> essentially putting that in a text file that I'd be perusing now and
> >> then.
> > 
> > If you want to define macros for your personal use, then that's your
> > prerogative, but I don't think that it's a good idea to encourage them by
> > putting them in the repo's .gitconfig file.
> 
> Why? I don't quite buy the argument. You're essentially asking for rote
> memorization. Also, process should only be helped by macros that enforce it.

I'm arguing that people should actually learn how to use git properly rather 
than creating crutches for themselves. The more you try and do with git 
without learning it properly, the more problems you're likely to run into 
(e.g. by running commands that you don't entirely understand and ending up 
with nasty side effects). So, I think that it's just plain bad practice to 
create such macros. And since those macros won't exist with any other git repo 
unless you copy them over, getting used to them will just create more problems 
for anyone using them, because they'll learn the macro rather than the proper 
command and won't know what to do when they work with other repos.

So, if you want to create macros for yourself, because you want that, then 
that's up to you. But I'm against putting them in the repo's .gitconfig file, 
because I think that it's bad pratice and that it encourages bad practices.

- Jonathan M Davis