GNU bug report logs - #66618
[PATCH] etc: gitconfig: Remove the default email address to avoid mistakes.

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From: Simon Tournier <zimon.toutoune <at> gmail.com>
To: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>, Clément Lassieur <clement <at> lassieur.org>
Cc: 66618 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: [bug#66618] [PATCH] etc: gitconfig: Remove the default email address to avoid mistakes.
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2023 16:06:59 +0200

Hi Maxim,

On Thu, 19 Oct 2023 at 21:54, Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com> wrote:

> One could argue it's also a misleading documentation.  It should say if
> a 'to' address is not specified *or* configured.  

Well, personally I prefer: « Explicit is better than implicit. » and
« Errors should never pass silently.  Unless explicitly silenced. ».

Here, the default

     [sendemail]
            to = guix-patches <at> gnu.org

makes something implicit – which is not necessary bad – but it hides
potential errors – which is not good.

IIUC, Clément use-case is the following:

  git send-email --reply-to=12345 <at> debbugs.gnu.org v2-0001-blabla.patch

which is an incorrect use of git-send-email.

Because of the default value ’sendemail.to’ from .git/config, the patch
v2-0001-blabla.patch is sent to guix-patches <at> gnu.org.  At best, Clément
spots that and merges the new created issue with #12345.  At worse, it
falls into the crack.  In all cases, it is burden.

Without the default value, the mistake is directly pointed out;
git-send-email asks the value for To: since no one is provided.

With the default value, it does not teach how to correctly use
git-send-email and worse it hides the incorrect usage.


>                                                   What would you have
> typed interactively if prompted; guix-patches <at> gnu.org? :-)

Yes, but it teaches me that I must provide the To: field.

Well, I do not see which difficulty the default value solves.  However,
I see which difficulty it introduces. :-)


> OK!  I'll leave this opened for a bit longer to allow for others to tip
> in, after which I'll do so.

Somehow, I think Clément’s suggestion seems more POLA.  But I do not
mind much since I always use ’--to=’. ;-)

Cheers,
simon

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