Re: [Monotone-devel] on the semantics of 'mtn mv'

[Nathaniel Smith]

On Thu, Jul 26, 2007 at 09:18:32AM +1000, William Uther wrote:
> I agree that things seems inconsistent given that example.  I'm not  
> sure if we want case 1 to behave like case 2; I'd go with the other  
> way around.  I'm not sure I like this 'magic add' semantics (but I'm  
> not horribly opposed to it either).  Case 4 should return a user error.

I know I'm usually the one haranguing against magic, but I'm actually
pro- magic add.  The reason being, in this case the user's intentions
are totally clear to the program, and the program's results are quite
obvious to the user.  We all know the "stupid program, if you knew
what I wanted then why didn't you do it?" feeling, and it's nice not
to invoke it more than absolutely necessary.  (It is, of course,
absolutely necessary in all sorts of cases where the user's request
*is* ambiguous, no matter what they think...)

-- Nathaniel

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