Re: [PATCH] Documentation: explain "mboxrd" pretty format

[Emma Brooks <me@pluvano.com>]

On 2020-04-15 22:03:36-0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:
> > +Like 'email', but lines in the commit message starting with "From "
> > +(preceded by zero or more ">") are quoted with ">" so they aren't
> > +confused as starting a new commit.
> 
> I am torn between rephrasing "starting a new commit" with "starting
> a new e-mail message", and keeping it as-is.  Technically, the latter
> is more correct---the >From quoting is a technique to avoid starting
> a line with "From " in a reversible way, as pieces of e-mails in a
> single mailbox file needs to be split at the boundary.  But in the
> context of format-patch, perhaps saying each "record" in the output
> file is a "commit" (not a piece of e-mail message) would probably be
> an acceptable white lie.

While it is more accurate to say "starting a new email" rather than
"commit", I think it might be less confusing to say "starting a new
commit", if the reader isn't already familiar with how mbox works or its
variants, since the pretty formats control commit display and would
typically be thought about in terms of commits rather than emails.