Re: [PATCH] Move all dashed form git commands to libexecdir

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007, Linus Torvalds wrote:

Yes. I meant that we might as well keep all the git-xyz forms around, but 
_only_ in the libexec directory (and make sure that the libexec directory 
by default is *not* a binary directory), so that they'd normally not be 
visible.

So then, people who want to use the old-fashioned git-xyz forms, because 
they just really hate white-space or whatever, could choose to do one of 
two things:
 - either just change the default libexec directory to be the same as the 
   binary install directory, and have all the git-xyz things in the same 
   place they've always been.
 - or just add $(gitlibexec) into their path.

but the default (which is what 99% of all people use) would be to not 
show them. I also think that it makes sense to avoid wasting diskspace 
with duplicate files, so in situations where you don't have hardlinks, 
just don't install the git-xyz files at all by default (and again, maybe 
we can have a option to the installer to do it for people who really are 
very attached to the git-xyz format, and prefer to waste even a lot of 
disk on it)

So I just think that the whole idiotic complaint that some people have 
(that whole "git-<tab><tab>" shows "Display all 144 possibilities?" and 
people are somehow using that as an argument that git is "complex") should 
be something we strive to undo. I think the complaint is insane (because 
the answer is "well, nobody forces you to _use_ all the power and scripts 
we give you!"), but still, it's a complaint, so let's just assume the user 
is right, and try to fix it.

Absolutely!

And despite Junio's appearance of some cowardliness on this issue :-)
I think we should have this right now instead of later. Like Junio said 
himself, this was planned for a while already, and poorly maintained 
external scripts are already failing due to other reasons anyway.


Nicolas