Re: [lmi] Git/Vim-fugitive proselytism (was: wxGrid-based census view)

[Vadim Zeitlin]

On Wed, 15 Jul 2020 15:13:54 +0000 Greg Chicares <gchicares@sbcglobal.net> 
wrote:

GC> Just for the record: I still approach this the same way I did with cvs:
GC> 
GC> [simplified from 'lmi_setup_43.sh']
GC> # Create a local mirror of the gnu.org repository:
GC> mkdir --parents /opt/lmi/free/src
GC> cd /opt/lmi/free/src
GC> git clone git://git.savannah.nongnu.org/lmi.git
GC> 
GC> Then I can merge 45 commits into /opt/lmi/src/lmi
GC> and diff the result against /opt/lmi/free/src/lmi
GC> (which I've updated to the merge's base commit).

 This is really a very, very roundabout way of doing things which does its
best to completely negate most of Git advantages compared to cvs. I.e. this
works, but I'm going to have trouble coming up with a less efficient way to
do it (well, maybe I could think of something involving rcs).

 The fundamental point is that with "git diff" you already have access to
the diff you're looking at, as well as any other diff you can think of, all
without creating extra directories. Moreover, with Git you have the index,
which is extremely helpful when composing commits and can't be replaced
(realistically speaking) with a directory-based approach.

GC> To view diffs, 'meld' isn't bad.

 You can configure "git diff" to use meld, but I won't describe this in
details because IMO this is still not the best thing to do (even if much
better than above) when you already use Vim...

GC> I'd like to find a text-mode alternative
GC> that'll work on our server; so far I've tried only vim's built-in 'netrw',
GC> and it gets the job done, but it's cumbersome, so maybe I should try one
GC> of the other options--e.g., here:
GC> 
GC> 
http://vimcasts.org/blog/2013/01/oil-and-vinegar-split-windows-and-project-drawer/

... because if you're thinking about doing something in Vim, please watch
this instead:

    http://vimcasts.org/episodes/fugitive-vim-working-with-the-git-index/

It will totally change your life and I'm absolutely not exaggerating. You
probably should also watch the other episodes in this series, but if you
can only watch one, please watch this one.

 Working with Vim and Git without Fugitive is like playing basketball with
only left hand: it's definitely possible, and even laudable for the extra
difficulty, but hardly allows you to show your best abilities (to push the
analogy much further than it could possibly apply, using cvs-like approach
above is like playing basketball with your eyes closed -- must be possible
too, I guess, by echolocation, but definitely not something I would enjoy
and I have troubles understanding why would you even try doing it like
this).

 Regards,
VZ

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