Re: [PATCH 3/4] format-patch: new --resend option for adding "RESEND" to patch subjects

[Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com>]

On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 6:34 PM Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
> Dragan Simic <dsimic@manjaro.org> writes:
> > How about introducing "--label=<string>" as the new option,...
>
> I still think --rfc=WIP is a lot more natural and easier to
> understand, and it is just the matter of how you introduce it.
> I'll show you how in a separate patch later.
>
> The problem I see with an overly generic word like "label" is that
> it would mislead readers to say "--label=important" and expect it to
> appear on an extra e-mail header, not as a part of "Subject:".
>
> But we can do this to get the ball rolling, without bikeshedding
> what option name to use.  Until we find a good name, users can
> use --rfc=WIP and when we do find a good name, it can be added
> as a synonym, possibly deprecating --rfc, and if we never agree
> on a good name, that is fine as well.

I remain skeptical that adding such an option is necessary, even
though I made a similar suggestion earlier in this discussion as an
alternative to `--resend`. I'm especially skeptical since the existing
`--subject-prefix` covers this use-case already (i.e.
`--subject-prefix="RESEND PATCH"`). It's dead simple to use and
doesn't require any magical incantations with corresponding complex
implementation such as the proposed `--label=RESEND$` which renders as
"[PATCH RESEND]" instead of "[RESEND PATCH]"; `--subject-prefix`
already handles this without any need for magic.

I do understand and am sympathetic to the desire to reduce the typing
load (hence, the original `--resend` proposal), but I have difficulty
believing that `git format-patch` is so commonly used throughout the
day that the time saved by typing `--resend` over
`--subject-prefix="RESEND PATCH"` warrants the extra implementation,
documentation, and testing baggage. Likewise, I don't see the value in
`--label=WIP` (or `--rfc=WIP` or whatever) over the existing more
general `--subject-prefix`.

If reducing the typing load is the primary concern, then a very simple
middle-ground would be to give `--subject-prefix` a short alias (i.e.
`-S`). It's true that `-S "RESEND PATCH"` doesn't reduce the typing
load as much as `--resend` does over `--subject-prefix="RESEND
PATCH"`, but it seems a reasonable alternative which doesn't
significantly increase implementation, documentation, and testing
costs.