Re: [PATCH v2 0/4] git-gui: Add ability to revert selected hunks and lines

From: Bert Wesarg <bert.wesarg@googlemail.com>
To: David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>
Cc: Pratyush Yadav <me@yadavpratyush.com>,
	Git Mailing List <git@vger.kernel.org>,
	Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>, Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 0/4] git-gui: Add ability to revert selected hunks and lines
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2019 08:57:22 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <CAKPyHN1gA4zPL7=WYQotKmQf=hZR+gr1wH3t5GuMw9thiMTsKg@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20190823234339.GA17088@gmail.com>

On Sat, Aug 24, 2019 at 1:43 AM David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com> wrote:
>

> I have a very strong opinion about the confirmation dialog, so I'll just
> mention that here since Hannes is on this thread.
>
> In cola we do have a confirmation dialog, and I strongly believe this is
> the correct behavior because it's an operation that drops data that
> cannot be recovered.
>
> In the other thread, it was mentioned that this dialog would be a
> nuisance.  Perhaps that is true -- for the dialog that may have been
> implemented in this series (I haven't run it to verify).
>
> Let's dive into that concern.
>
> In git-cola we have a confirmation dialog and it is by no way a
> detriment to the workflow, and I use that feature all the time.
> Why?  The reason is that we focused on the keyboard interaction.
>
> The workflow is as follows:
>
>         Ctrl-u to initiate the revert action
>         The prompt appears immediately.
>                 - Hitting any of "enter", "y", or "spacebar" will
>                   confirm the confirmation, and proceed.
>                 - Hitting any of "escape" or "n" will cancel the action.
>
> So essentially the workflow for the power user becomes "ctrl-u, enter"
> and that is such a tiny overhead that it really is not a bother at all.
>
> On the other hand, if I had to actually move my hand over to a mouse or
> trackpad and actually "click" on something then I would be super
> annoyed.  That would be simply horrible with RSI in mind.
>

I take this as a point for*not* having a confirmation dialog when
doing the action per mouse. Which matches exactly my original
implementation.

> OTOH having to hit "enter" or "spacebar" (which is the largest key on
> your keyboard, and your thumbs have good hefty muscles) is totally
> acceptable in my book because it strikes the right balance between
> safety for a destructive operation and convenience.
>
> Now, let's consider the alternative -- adding an option to disable the
> prompt.  I don't like that.
>
> Why?  It's yet another option.  It's yet another thing to document, yet
> another code path, and yet another pitfall for a user who might run
> git-gui in a different configuration (and becomes surprised when revert
> doesn't prompt and suddenly loses their work).
>
> Do we really need an option, or do we need better usability instead?
> My opinion is that the latter is the real need.
>
>
> That's my $.02 from having used this feature in practice since 2013.

2012

Best,
Bert

> --
> David