Re: Cleaning up git user-interface warts

[Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>]

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006, Nicolas Pitre wrote:
> 
> I think "fetch" is sane.  Its only problem is a missing symetrical 
> counterpart verb, like "get" and "put".

If you're a dog owner, the obvious counterpart for "fetch" is "throw" ;)

I think "get" and "put" would be bad, just because of confusion with 
"sccs get" (ie it has that "get this file" connotations).

Maybe "fetch" and "push" aren't totally diametrically opposite, but 
really, I don't think they are that hard to understand either. We do have 
the BK legacy of "pull" implying a merge, and that's fairly fundamental. 

It's also true that in a lot of usage schenarios, what people actually 
_use_ is "pull" and "push", and no, they aren't mirror images (since push 
will _not_ do the merge), but at the same time, from a _usage_ standpoint 
they really _are_ each others opposites. 

You "pull" to get other peoples data into your branch (and once you've 
internalized local branches and the merge thing, you know what this 
means), and you "push" to push your changes out. It really _is_ the usage 
schenario, and using "opposite" words really _does_ make sense.

It's true that _technically_ "fetch" is the opposite of "push", but at the 
same time, that really is about technology, not about usage models. You 
normally wouldn't do a "git fetch + git push" pair. You _can_ do so, but 
it's not the natural way to work - unless you're just doing a mirror 
service.