Thanks, I think changing the default for windows is a good idea. The -m indeed accomplishes one-line messages when you are voluntarily doing a commit. However, the scenario I mentioned is "When users pull commits, and a new commit needs to be created for the merge" In this situation, the user isn't issuing the "git commit" command, and so he/she doesn't have the opportunity to use the -m flag. On Thu, Oct 27, 2016 at 5:30 PM, Stefan Beller <sbeller@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > 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".