"git ls-files -t" was marked as semi-deprecated back in 5bc0e247c4 ("Document ls-files -t as semi-obsolete.", 2010-07-28); quoting that commit message: git ls-files -t" is [...] badly documented, hence we point the users to superior alternatives. The feature is marked as "semi-obsolete" but not "scheduled for removal" since it's a plumbing command, scripts might use it, and Git testsuite already uses it to test the state of the index. Looking over the manual, "git ls-files -t" is very easy to misunderstand...as are several things besides the "-t" option within that manual page. I recall a number of discussions over the years on the mailing list about various confusing aspects of ls-files, and I think a number of those misunderstandings could have been avoided with a few small clarifications. This series sets about to do that, as well as remove the "semi-deprecated" notice on git ls-files -t. That particular command is rather integral to sparse-checkout usage (and doesn't seem to confuse in that case), and I think the improvements avoid the original problems. However, I have kept the comments about git status --porcelain and such being likely better candidates for a number of things that git ls-files -t might have historically been used for. Series spurred by https://lore.kernel.org/git/CABPp-BGsD=6PiJtnsuYPsiZJ1rm2X8yTeu-YeP4q5uu5UDw2og@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/ Elijah Newren (4): ls-files: add missing documentation for --resolve-undo option ls-files: clarify descriptions of file selection options ls-files: clarify descriptions of status tags for -t ls-files: guide folks to --exclude-standard over other --exclude* options Documentation/git-ls-files.txt | 79 ++++++++++++++++++++++------------ 1 file changed, 52 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-) base-commit: 2b4f5a4e4bb102ac8d967cea653ed753b608193c Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-1463%2Fnewren%2Fls-files-docs-v1 Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-1463/newren/ls-files-docs-v1 Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1463 -- gitgitgadget