Re: [RFC/PATCH] revision.c: add --format option for 'git log'

On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 8:37 PM, Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] wrote:

Felipe Contreras [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

I understand the option should be kept for people that are used to it,

It is not just that.  New people should learn existing lingo, as that is
the word used in the existing documentation and various random web pages,
so that they can use the same language when they teach people who are
newer than themselves.

Yes, but the existing lingo is not perfect... I'm proposing this
particular lingo to be changed.

If the existing word was not pretty (that came from "pretty-formatting")
but something unpronouncible like '--gzxfw=short", then your argument
might make some sense, but there is no such "breakage we need to fix"
here.

It's not breakage that needs to be fixed, it's UI improvement, and one
guideline is that the interface needs to be intuitive and natural
(when possible). IMO pretty > gzxfw, but format > pretty. Don't you
think that --format=email is more natural than --pretty=email? I think
you are holding a bit too tight on the code reason why it's called
--pretty, but users shouldn't need to see the code in order to
understand why the naming of the options in git commands make sense.

-- 
Felipe Contreras