Re: git non-time-sequential logs

On Mon, Jan 4, 2021 at 9:58 AM Poul-Henning Kamp <phk_at_phk.freebsd.dk> wrote:

> --------
> John Kennedy writes:
>
> > This might be perfectly natural and just new to me, but when I look at
> the
> > git logs this morning I see things like this (editing by me):
> >
> >       Date:   Mon Jan 4 17:30:00 2021 +0100
> >       Date:   Mon Dec 14 18:56:56 2020 +0100
> >       Date:   Tue Dec 15 13:50:00 2020 +0100
> >       Date:   Mon Jan 4 16:23:10 2021 +0100
> >
> >   I've always assumed that the "Date:" there was when the commit
> happened,
>
> It is, but it is the time it was committed in the first git repos it was
> committed to,
> in this case the repos of the committer in question.
>
> Without taking a position on the merits of this design-choice, I
> just want to point out that it means that timestamps should be
> viewed very sceptically, since they depend on the *local* clock on
> somebodys computer, not on the central repos machine.
>

I'll be more frank than phk: it sucks.  Git's commit dates are basically
useless.  But there are a few ways to improve the situation:
1) If we start using Gitlab or something similar, we can ban pushes
directly to head.  Then we'll be able to trust the Dates on Gitlab's merge
commits.
2) Perhaps we can use the Git Notes to add a field for the Date when a
commit was pushed to the master server?
3) The internet is full of suggestions for how to change the way commits
are displayed locally to mediate this problem.  But they all seem to
involve changes to the working copy's configuration, not the master's.  And
I haven't gotten any way to work.

-Alan