Subject: Re: [PATCH] Documentation/config.txt: Order variables alphabetically

From: Jakub Narebski <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2010 15:57:29 +0100

On Wed, 1 Dec 2010, Jari Aalto wrote:
> On 2010-12-01 05:58, Jakub Narebski wrote:
> | [email-masked] writes:
> | 
> | > From: Jari Aalto <[email-masked]>
> | > 
> | > 
> | > Signed-off-by: Jari Aalto <[email-masked]>
> | > ---
> | >  Documentation/config.txt | 1698 +++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------------
> | >  1 files changed, 852 insertions(+), 846 deletions(-)
> | 
> | Why?  What such large change is for?
> | 
> | Note that currently config variables are grouped by functionality: for
> | example core.eol and core.safecrlf, or core.compression and
> | core.loosecompression are close to each other.

What about the above?
 
> The phone books have an index where to up information.
> 
>     - When you see script and it use VARIABLE, you look it from
>       manual page

Manpages (and 'git <cmd> --help') are displayed in pager, so you can
always search for option in a pager (e.g. '/' in 'less', the default
pager).

> 
> It is same as putting option in alphabetical order. See GNU cp(1),
> ssh(1) etc.

In git documentation command line options are not in alphabetical order,
but grouped by functionality, therefore your argument is invalid.

See also GNU tar(1), rpm(8), uname(1) from coreutils, etc.

> 
> There are zillion values and for a reference, alphabetical order makes
> sense.

I agree that alphabetical order makes sense for glossary; I disagree that
it makes sense here.

Sidenote: we can always sort variables alphabetically using a script, but
reverse operation cannot be automated.
-- 
Jakub Narebski
Poland