[RFC] Re: short and long log messages

[John Yates]

John Arbash Meinel wrote:

> But honestly, other than just having the discipline to write your log
> messages that way, there really isn't much you can do. If you have a
> multi-line log message, you either need a text editor, or you live with
> the difficulties of multi-line entry in bash.

How I pine for the Apollo DM's shell transcript windows.  A floating
horizontal bar separated the unconsumed input pane from the immutable
historical transcript pane.  The input pane was a full fledge editing
context, presenting the same editor used to manipulate any text file.

What made the input pane really work was that there was a function key
that toggled whether pending input was to be delivered to requesting
processes or whether it was to be quarantined in for editing.

So to generate a commit message one would place the input pane on hold,
compose until satisfied, then release hold.  What could be more natural?

(With the recent addition of inotify to the Linux kernel it may finally
be possible to recreate this behavior.  I am hoping to give it a try
one of these days.)

/john