Re: [PATCH 0/6] notmuch cli config changes

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+From: David Bremner <david@tethera.net>\r
+To: Jameson Graef Rollins <jrollins@finestructure.net>,\r
+       Jani Nikula <jani@nikula.org>, notmuch@notmuchmail.org\r
+Subject: Re: [PATCH 0/6] notmuch cli config changes\r
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+References: <cover.1359495450.git.jani@nikula.org>\r
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+\r
+Jameson Graef Rollins <jrollins@finestructure.net> writes:\r
+\r
+>  Is there some benefit to having a command line option for this that I\r
+> don't see?\r
+\r
+In my experience the environment variable is somewhat dangerous to use\r
+while testing. If left set to the wrong value, it can lead the loss of\r
+tag information.\r
+\r
+>  I see this as another instance of an option that regular users will\r
+> rarely use, if ever.\r
+\r
+I don't see this as really comparable with a debugging option:\r
+temporarily changing the configuration is something that can be useful\r
+outside of debugging and testing. Although I'm fuzzy on the details now,\r
+I remember telling someone to do this, I think to temporarily modify\r
+what was ignored.\r
+\r
+> In general, I am a strong advocate of keeping the CLI slim.  IMHO,\r
+> adding more options makes the interface clunkier, and the manual harder\r
+> to parse, and I'm against adding things that a normal user would likely\r
+> never use. \r
+\r
+Well, it's are reasonable heuristic, although I might disagree in\r
+general where the cutoff for "normal use" is, as I do in this case.\r
+\r
+> In retrospect, I should have had the same objection to the\r
+> --format-version option, which I think could have just been an env var\r
+> as well.\r
+\r
+I don't follow this part of your argument. I don't think replacing\r
+command line arguments by environment variables makes the interface or\r
+documentation simpler; at least if we document the environment variables\r
+properly.  Note that non-shell based invokation (which is often\r
+desirable from e.g. scripting languages or Emacs) is typically, more\r
+complicated using environment variables. It's also more complicated for\r
+the user if they do have to use these options in a shell or a script.\r
+\r
+d\r