The order in which the stdout and stderr streams are flushed is not
guaranteed to be the same across platforms or `libc` implementations.
This lack of determinism can lead to anomalous and potentially confusing
output if normal (stdout) output is flushed after error (stderr) output.
For instance, the following output which clearly indicates a failure due
to a fatal error:
% git worktree add ../foo bar
Preparing worktree (checking out 'bar')
fatal: 'bar' is already checked out at '.../wherever'
has been reported[1] on Microsoft Windows to appear as:
% git worktree add ../foo bar
fatal: 'bar' is already checked out at '.../wherever'
Preparing worktree (checking out 'bar')
which may confuse the reader into thinking that the command somehow
recovered and ran to completion despite the error.
This problem crops up because the "chatty" status message "Preparing
worktree" is sent to stdout, whereas the "fatal" error message is sent
to stderr. One way to fix this would be to flush stdout manually before
git-worktree reports any errors to stderr.
However, common practice in Git is for "chatty" messages to be sent to
stderr. Therefore, a more appropriate fix is to adjust git-worktree to
conform to that practice by sending its "chatty" messages to stderr
rather than stdout as is currently the case.
There may be concern that relocating messages from stdout to stderr
could break existing tooling, however, these messages are already
internationalized, thus are unstable. And, indeed, the "Preparing
worktree" message has already been the subject of somewhat significant
changes in 2c27002a0a (worktree: improve message when creating a new
worktree, 2018-04-24). Moreover, there is existing precedent, such as
68b939b2f0 (clone: send diagnostic messages to stderr, 2013-09-18) which
likewise relocated "chatty" messages from stdout to stderr for
git-clone.
[1]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/CA+34VNLj6VB1kCkA=MfM7TZR+6HgqNi5-UaziAoCXacSVkch4A@mail.gmail.com/T/
Reported-by: Baruch Burstein <bmburstein@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public
License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses,
compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus
Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/
including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-<commandname>.txt for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that
list the current status of various development topics to the mailing
list. The discussion following them give a good reference for
project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very
first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker"
and the name as (depending on your mood):
random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not
actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a
mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the
dictionary of slang.
"global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually
works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
"goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks
