From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Felipe Contreras Subject: [1.8.0] use 'stage' term consistently Date: Sat, 5 May 2012 15:04:25 +0200 Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Cc: Junio C Hamano , Jonathan Nieder , Jeff King , Scott Chacon , Paolo Ciarrocchi , =?UTF-8?Q?Jakub_Nar=C4=99bski?= , Johannes Schindelin , Matthieu Moy , Piotr Krukowiecki To: git@vger.kernel.org X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Sat May 05 15:04:34 2012 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git-2@plane.gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.180.67]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1SQef3-0003E1-5k for gcvg-git-2@plane.gmane.org; Sat, 05 May 2012 15:04:33 +0200 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1755629Ab2EENE1 (ORCPT ); Sat, 5 May 2012 09:04:27 -0400 Received: from mail-ey0-f174.google.com ([209.85.215.174]:50432 "EHLO mail-ey0-f174.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1755509Ab2EENE0 (ORCPT ); Sat, 5 May 2012 09:04:26 -0400 Received: by eaaq12 with SMTP id q12so1041184eaa.19 for ; Sat, 05 May 2012 06:04:25 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type; bh=qCh+Ot+D4xxlev9c84seFBo8F22/GZGzDLu0EhxDyew=; b=MiTSv6ja7i+dPe9yl2HHKstX/HIXKvz7foex4P+hpJGwOFg/cTTTKs+T5hhtiVObkd bHYPIxckjCkc7wiQZqPkM7b1Z9hCkrBTuXzWNEBoFwj/6iLfnTh+caHNUmC5qiwTHc55 EaWSOvX1BPzbSbikMLqgcKwi8p4Ebbo3CK4cppTndwuZzDfdzETir42lqmy67I5kA7aE 7jbpaBJhUfaNa/7RRbm5nBAW/b8Pi+d05iIQX4IUGd3iQyqASWwO0b5NJ+KZYofxuP6y lcSoojJaZoUHiwB/d6pb5Z88N2CUNRlr12m1P2BjcAY9IeynnpnpcXOIIolwDMqjvhMq j/LA== Received: by 10.14.96.129 with SMTP id r1mr1703684eef.86.1336223065156; Sat, 05 May 2012 06:04:25 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.213.103.18 with HTTP; Sat, 5 May 2012 06:04:25 -0700 (PDT) Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: Proposal: Avoid the terms 'cache' and 'index' in favor of 'stage'. Advantages: The term 'stage' is more intuitive for newcomers which are more familiar with English than with git, and it seems to be a straightforward mental notion for people from different mother tongues. It is so intuitive that it is used already in a lot online documentation, and the people that do teach git professionally use this term. Risks: People might be accustomed to the current options, and might take some time to get used to the new term. Scripts might be relying on the current options. There's also the possibility that a lot of people prefer the terms 'cache' and 'index', but from the countless discussions on this subject, that seems to be rather unlikely. Migration plan: Follow a typical obsolete/deprecate process; for a period of time warn that the options are obsolete and shouldn't be used, in case there's a lot of people against this, this period would allow for them to shout; then remove them. Rationale: First of all, this discussion _always_ keeps coming back, so its clear something needs to be done, and in the last big discussion the consensus was that 'stage' was the best option. In summary: cache: a 'cache' is a place for easier access; a squirrel caches nuts so it doesn't have to go looking for them in the future when it might be much more difficult. Git porcelain is not using the staging area for easier future access; it's not a cache. index: an 'index' is a guide of pointers to something else; a book index has a list of entries so the reader can locate information easily without having to go through the whole book. Git porcelain is not using the staging area to find out entries quicker; it's not an index. stage: a 'stage' is a special area designated for convenience in order for some activity to take place; an orator would prepare a stage in order for her speak to be successful, otherwise many people might not be able to hear, or see her. Git porcelain is using the staging area precisly as a special area to be separated from the working directory for convenience. The term 'stage' is a good noun itself, but also 'staging area', it has a good verb; 'to stage', and a nice past-participle; 'staged'. -- Felipe Contreras