On Thu, Oct 27, 2016 at 2:55 PM, John Rood <mr.john.rood@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Users should be able to configure Git to not send them into a Vim editor. > > When users pull commits, and a new commit needs to be created for a > merge, Git's current way of determining a commit message is to send > the user into a Vim window so that they can write a message. There are > 2 reasons why this might not be the ideal way to prompt for a commit > message. > > 1. Many users are used to writing concise one-line commit messages and > would not expect to save a commit message in a multi-line file. Some > users will wonder why they are in a text editor or which file they are > editing. Others may not, in fact, realize at all that a text editor is > what they are in. Look at the -m option of git commit, git commit -a -m "look a commit with no editor, and a precise one line message" I do not advocate this use though, as I think commit messages should be more wordy. > > 2. Many users are not familiar with Vim, and do not understand how to > modify, save, and exit. It is not very considerate to require a user > to learn Vim in order to finish a commit that they are in the middle > of. That is true, but vi is like the most available editor as a relict from ancient times; as you are on Windows, maybe notepad is the best on that platform. Maybe file a bug/issue at https://github.com/git-for-windows to change the default? > > The existing behavior should be optional, and there should be two new options: > > 1. Use a simple inline prompt for a commit message (in the same way > Git might prompt for a username). > > 2. Automatically assign names for commits in the form of "Merged x into y".