On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 8:36 AM, Drew Northup <n1xim.email@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 3:13 AM, Piotr Krukowiecki > <piotr.krukowiecki@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> Just wanted to point to a Dr. Dobb's article from Monday: >> http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/getting-started-with-git-the-fundamental/240160261?pgno=2 >> >> The author does not use the use the word "index" at all. Instead he >> writes in following way: >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > <DR DOBBS QUOTE> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> >> Sorry for not responding to your comments Drew, no time at the moment. > > NP. What he writes [in that quote at least] is entirely reasonable. In > fact, oddly enough (as I presume you meant it as a refutation), it can > be seen to support my argument: don't mess with the core code much (if > at all) but fix the documentation. That's all that I've been arguing > since day one. We don't need to make big huge changes in every part of > the Git metaphor set to better explain what is going on to newbies and > casual users. But he is using the term "staging area", forget about my patches to the code, are you agreeing we should fix the documentation to use the term "staging area" as Dr. Dobb did? > (Aside from the fact that there's a huge body of > existing documentation, tools, and usage patterns that depends on the > currently predominant model.) Most of the online documentation doesn't use the term "index", they use "staging area", as the link just described above. > I still argue that for a not insignificant group of users--people who > are happy with the current paradigm and therefore aren't making a lot > of noise--the current core metaphor is actually useful despite the > name being more than just a tad bit unfortunate. Alas, for dealing > with some of the advanced usage explanations it can be argued that the > "staging area" metaphor (it implies _completed_ bundles ready to > package into commits and ship--I envision shipping trailers being > filled with _immutable_ boxes and attached to trucks) is actually > harmful, but we can talk about that if there's a need. Nobody thinks of the staging area that way, just you. The staging area is an area that contains the preparation for the next commit to be made. There's no ships, or trailers, or bundles. Everybody understands that, and find the term "staging area" fit for that description. Except you. -- Felipe Contreras -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html