22 files changed, 128 insertions, 66 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
index ba2006d892..fe1c1e5bc2 100644
--- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
+++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ Writing Documentation:
  when writing or modifying command usage strings and synopsis sections
  in the manual pages:
 
- Placeholders are enclosed in angle brackets:
+ Placeholders are spelled in lowercase and enclosed in angle brackets:
    <file>
    --sort=<key>
    --abbrev[=<n>]
diff --git a/Documentation/RelNotes/1.7.4.1.txt b/Documentation/RelNotes/1.7.4.1.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..79923a6d2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/RelNotes/1.7.4.1.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+Git v1.7.4.1 Release Notes
+==========================
+
+Fixes since v1.7.4
+------------------
+
+ * On Windows platform, the codepath to spawn a new child process forgot
+   to first flush the output buffer.
+
+ * "git bundle" did not use OFS_DELTA encoding, making its output a few
+   per-cent larger than necessarily.
+
+ * The option to tell "git clone" to recurse into the submodules was
+   misspelled with an underscore "--recurse_submodules".
+
+ * "git diff --cached HEAD" before the first commit does what an end user
+   would expect (namely, show what would be committed without further "git
+   add").
+
+ * "git fast-import" didn't accept the command to ask for "notes" feature
+   to be present in its input stream, even though it was capable of the
+   feature.
+
+ * "git fsck" gave up scanning loose object files in directories with
+   garbage files.
+
+And other minor fixes and documentation updates.
diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
index 72741ebda1..c3b0816ed7 100644
--- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
+++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
@@ -10,10 +10,18 @@ Checklist (and a short version for the impatient):
 	  description (50 characters is the soft limit, see DISCUSSION
 	  in git-commit(1)), and should skip the full stop
 	- the body should provide a meaningful commit message, which:
-		- uses the imperative, present tense: "change",
-		  not "changed" or "changes".
-		- includes motivation for the change, and contrasts
-		  its implementation with previous behaviour
+	  . explains the problem the change tries to solve, iow, what
+	    is wrong with the current code without the change.
+	  . justifies the way the change solves the problem, iow, why
+	    the result with the change is better.
+	  . alternate solutions considered but discarded, if any.
+	- describe changes in imperative mood, e.g. "make xyzzy do frotz"
+	  instead of "[This patch] makes xyzzy do frotz" or "[I] changed
+	  xyzzy to do frotz", as if you are giving orders to the codebase
+	  to change its behaviour.
+	- try to make sure your explanation can be understood without
+	  external resources. Instead of giving a URL to a mailing list
+	  archive, summarize the relevant points of the discussion.
 	- add a "Signed-off-by: Your Name <you@example.com>" line to the
 	  commit message (or just use the option "-s" when committing)
 	  to confirm that you agree to the Developer's Certificate of Origin
@@ -90,7 +98,10 @@ your commit head.  Instead, always make a commit with complete
 commit message and generate a series of patches from your
 repository.  It is a good discipline.
 
-Describe the technical detail of the change(s).
+Give an explanation for the change(s) that is detailed enough so
+that people can judge if it is good thing to do, without reading
+the actual patch text to determine how well the code does what
+the explanation promises to do.
 
 If your description starts to get too long, that's a sign that you
 probably need to split up your commit to finer grained pieces.
@@ -99,9 +110,8 @@ help reviewers check the patch, and future maintainers understand
 the code, are the most beautiful patches.  Descriptions that summarise
 the point in the subject well, and describe the motivation for the
 change, the approach taken by the change, and if relevant how this
-differs substantially from the prior version, can be found on Usenet
-archives back into the late 80's.  Consider it like good Netiquette,
-but for code.
+differs substantially from the prior version, are all good things
+to have.
 
 Oh, another thing.  I am picky about whitespaces.  Make sure your
 changes do not trigger errors with the sample pre-commit hook shipped
diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index c5e183516a..701fba92dc 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -376,15 +376,6 @@ core.warnAmbiguousRefs::
 	If true, git will warn you if the ref name you passed it is ambiguous
 	and might match multiple refs in the .git/refs/ tree. True by default.
 
-core.abbrevguard::
-	Even though git makes sure that it uses enough hexdigits to show
-	an abbreviated object name unambiguously, as more objects are
-	added to the repository over time, a short name that used to be
-	unique will stop being unique.  Git uses this many extra hexdigits
-	that are more than necessary to make the object name currently
-	unique, in the hope that its output will stay unique a bit longer.
-	Defaults to 0.
-
 core.compression::
 	An integer -1..9, indicating a default compression level.
 	-1 is the zlib default. 0 means no compression,
@@ -1591,7 +1582,8 @@ push.default::
 * `matching` - push all matching branches.
   All branches having the same name in both ends are considered to be
   matching. This is the default.
-* `tracking` - push the current branch to its upstream branch.
+* `upstream` - push the current branch to its upstream branch.
+* `tracking` - deprecated synonym for `upstream`.
 * `current` - push the current branch to a branch of the same name.
 
 rebase.stat::
diff --git a/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt b/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt
index 3ac2beac62..c57460c03d 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt
@@ -74,10 +74,13 @@ separate lines indicate the old and the new mode.
 combined diff format
 --------------------
 
-"git-diff-tree", "git-diff-files" and "git-diff" can take '-c' or
-'--cc' option to produce 'combined diff'.  For showing a merge commit
-with "git log -p", this is the default format; you can force showing
-full diff with the '-m' option.
+Any diff-generating command can take the `-c` or `--cc` option to
+produce a 'combined diff' when showing a merge. This is the default
+format when showing merges with linkgit:git-diff[1] or
+linkgit:git-show[1]. Note also that you can give the `-m' option to any
+of these commands to force generation of diffs with individual parents
+of a merge.
+
 A 'combined diff' format looks like this:
 
 ------------
diff --git a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
index 695696da1b..f37276e5ad 100644
--- a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
@@ -64,13 +64,11 @@ ifndef::git-pull[]
 	downloaded. The default behavior for a remote may be
 	specified with the remote.<name>.tagopt setting. See
 	linkgit:git-config[1].
-endif::git-pull[]
 
 --[no-]recurse-submodules::
 	This option controls if new commits of all populated submodules should
 	be fetched too (see linkgit:git-config[1] and linkgit:gitmodules[5]).
 
-ifndef::git-pull[]
 --submodule-prefix=<path>::
 	Prepend <path> to paths printed in informative messages
 	such as "Fetching submodule foo".  This option is used
diff --git a/Documentation/git-apply.txt b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
index 881652f490..2dcfc097d3 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-apply.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ DESCRIPTION
 -----------
 Reads the supplied diff output (i.e. "a patch") and applies it to files.
 With the `--index` option the patch is also applied to the index, and
-with the `--cache` option the patch is only applied to the index.
+with the `--cached` option the patch is only applied to the index.
 Without these options, the command applies the patch only to files,
 and does not require them to be in a git repository.
 
diff --git a/Documentation/git-commit.txt b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
index b586c0f442..8f89f6f08c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-commit.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
@@ -214,10 +214,11 @@ FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1].)
 
 -u[<mode>]::
 --untracked-files[=<mode>]::
-	Show untracked files (Default: 'all').
+	Show untracked files.
 +
-The mode parameter is optional, and is used to specify
-the handling of untracked files.
+The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
+specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
+default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
 +
 The possible options are:
 +
@@ -225,9 +226,8 @@ The possible options are:
 	- 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
 	- 'all'    - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
 +
-See linkgit:git-config[1] for configuration variable
-used to change the default for when the option is not
-specified.
+The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
+configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 
 -v::
 --verbose::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-diff.txt b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
index f6ac847507..49105102db 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-diff.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ directories. This behavior can be forced by --no-index.
 	commit relative to the named <commit>.  Typically you
 	would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you
 	do not give <commit>, it defaults to HEAD.
+	If HEAD does not exist (e.g. unborned branches) and
+	<commit> is not given, it shows all staged changes.
 	--staged is a synonym of --cached.
 
 'git diff' [--options] <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
index 4415e63635..02bb49886c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
@@ -948,6 +948,13 @@ cat-blob::
 	rather than wasting time on the early part of an import
 	before the unsupported command is detected.
 
+notes::
+	Require that the backend support the 'notemodify' (N)
+	subcommand to the 'commit' command.
+	Versions of fast-import not supporting notes will exit
+	with a message indicating so.
+
+
 `option`
 ~~~~~~~~
 Processes the specified option so that git fast-import behaves in a
diff --git a/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt b/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt
index fac1cf55e5..152e695c81 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ EXAMPLES
 --------
 
 An example directly producing formatted text.  Show the most recent
-3 tagged commits::
+3 tagged commits:
 
 ------------
 #!/bin/sh
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ Ref: %(*refname)
 
 
 A simple example showing the use of shell eval on the output,
-demonstrating the use of --shell.  List the prefixes of all heads::
+demonstrating the use of --shell.  List the prefixes of all heads:
 ------------
 #!/bin/sh
 
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ done
 
 
 A bit more elaborate report on tags, demonstrating that the format
-may be an entire script::
+may be an entire script:
 ------------
 #!/bin/sh
 
@@ -204,3 +204,15 @@ eval=`git for-each-ref --shell --format="$fmt" \
 	refs/tags`
 eval "$eval"
 ------------
+
+Author
+------
+Written by Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>.
+
+Documentation
+-------------
+Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
+
+GIT
+---
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
index abe7bf9ff9..3422765827 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-remote.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
 'git ls-remote' [--heads] [--tags]  [-u <exec> | --upload-pack <exec>]
-	      <repository> <refs>...
+	      <repository> [<refs>...]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
diff --git a/Documentation/git-pull.txt b/Documentation/git-pull.txt
index 30466917da..b33e6be872 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-pull.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-pull.txt
@@ -84,6 +84,15 @@ must be given before the options meant for 'git fetch'.
 --verbose::
 	Pass --verbose to git-fetch and git-merge.
 
+--[no-]recurse-submodules::
+	This option controls if new commits of all populated submodules should
+	be fetched too (see linkgit:git-config[1] and linkgit:gitmodules[5]).
+	That might be necessary to get the data needed for merging submodule
+	commits, a feature git learned in 1.7.3. Notice that the result of a
+	merge will not be checked out in the submodule, "git submodule update"
+	has to be called afterwards to bring the work tree up to date with the
+	merge result.
+
 Options related to merging
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/Documentation/git-remote-ext.txt b/Documentation/git-remote-ext.txt
index 2d65cfefd5..68263a6a53 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-remote-ext.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-remote-ext.txt
@@ -7,17 +7,17 @@ git-remote-ext - Bridge smart transport to external command.
 
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
-git remote add nick "ext::<command>[ <arguments>...]"
+git remote add <nick> "ext::<command>[ <arguments>...]"
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
-This remote helper uses the specified 'program' to connect
+This remote helper uses the specified '<command>' to connect
 to a remote git server.
 
-Data written to stdin of this specified 'program' is assumed
+Data written to stdin of the specified '<command>' is assumed
 to be sent to a git:// server, git-upload-pack, git-receive-pack
 or git-upload-archive (depending on situation), and data read
-from stdout of this program is assumed to be received from
+from stdout of <command> is assumed to be received from
 the same service.
 
 Command and arguments are separated by an unescaped space.
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ The following sequences have a special meaning:
 	git wants to invoke.
 
 '%G' (must be the first characters in an argument)::
-	This argument will not be passed to 'program'. Instead, it
+	This argument will not be passed to '<command>'. Instead, it
 	will cause the helper to start by sending git:// service requests to
 	the remote side with the service field set to an appropriate value and
 	the repository field set to rest of the argument. Default is not to send
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ This is useful if remote side is git:// server accessed over
 some tunnel.
 
 '%V' (must be first characters in argument)::
-	This argument will not be passed to 'program'. Instead it sets
+	This argument will not be passed to '<command>'. Instead it sets
 	the vhost field in the git:// service request (to rest of the argument).
 	Default is not to send vhost in such request (if sent).
 
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ EXAMPLES:
 ---------
 This remote helper is transparently used by git when
 you use commands such as "git fetch <URL>", "git clone <URL>",
-, "git push <URL>" or "git remote add nick <URL>", where <URL>
+, "git push <URL>" or "git remote add <nick> <URL>", where <URL>
 begins with `ext::`.  Examples:
 
 "ext::ssh -i /home/foo/.ssh/somekey user&#64;host.example %S 'foo/repo'"::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt b/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt
index 3a23477ce7..51de895822 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt
@@ -201,12 +201,12 @@ REF LIST ATTRIBUTES
 
 OPTIONS
 -------
-'option verbosity' <N>::
+'option verbosity' <n>::
 	Changes the verbosity of messages displayed by the helper.
-	A value of 0 for N means that processes operate
+	A value of 0 for <n> means that processes operate
 	quietly, and the helper produces only error output.
 	1 is the default level of verbosity, and higher values
-	of N correspond to the number of -v flags passed on the
+	of <n> correspond to the number of -v flags passed on the
 	command line.
 
 'option progress' \{'true'|'false'\}::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-status.txt b/Documentation/git-status.txt
index dae190a5f2..5102a23f8e 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-status.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-status.txt
@@ -38,20 +38,20 @@ OPTIONS
 
 -u[<mode>]::
 --untracked-files[=<mode>]::
-	Show untracked files (Default: 'all').
+	Show untracked files.
 +
-The mode parameter is optional, and is used to specify
-the handling of untracked files. The possible options are:
+The mode parameter is optional (defaults to 'all'), and is used to
+specify the handling of untracked files; when -u is not used, the
+default is 'normal', i.e. show untracked files and directories.
++
+The possible options are:
 +
---
 	- 'no'     - Show no untracked files
 	- 'normal' - Shows untracked files and directories
 	- 'all'    - Also shows individual files in untracked directories.
---
 +
-See linkgit:git-config[1] for configuration variable
-used to change the default for when the option is not
-specified.
+The default can be changed using the status.showUntrackedFiles
+configuration variable documented in linkgit:git-config[1].
 
 --ignore-submodules[=<when>]::
 	Ignore changes to submodules when looking for changes. <when> can be
diff --git a/Documentation/git-svn.txt b/Documentation/git-svn.txt
index 0ade2ce54e..e161a40a73 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-svn.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-svn.txt
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ COMMANDS
 	Set the 'rewriteRoot' option in the [svn-remote] config.
 --rewrite-uuid=<UUID>;;
 	Set the 'rewriteUUID' option in the [svn-remote] config.
---username=<USER>;;
+--username=<user>;;
 	For transports that SVN handles authentication for (http,
 	https, and plain svn), specify the username.  For other
 	transports (eg svn+ssh://), you must include the username in
@@ -443,8 +443,8 @@ OPTIONS
 	Only used with the 'init' command.
 	These are passed directly to 'git init'.
 
--r <ARG>::
---revision <ARG>::
+-r <arg>::
+--revision <arg>::
 	   Used with the 'fetch' command.
 +
 This allows revision ranges for partial/cauterized history
diff --git a/Documentation/git-tag.txt b/Documentation/git-tag.txt
index 8b169e364a..65f76c5440 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-tag.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-tag.txt
@@ -18,21 +18,22 @@ SYNOPSIS
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
 
-Adds a tag reference in `.git/refs/tags/`.
+Add a tag reference in `.git/refs/tags/`, unless `-d/-l/-v` is given
+to delete, list or verify tags.
 
-Unless `-f` is given, the tag must not yet exist in
+Unless `-f` is given, the tag to be created must not yet exist in the
 `.git/refs/tags/` directory.
 
 If one of `-a`, `-s`, or `-u <key-id>` is passed, the command
-creates a 'tag' object, and requires the tag message.  Unless
+creates a 'tag' object, and requires a tag message.  Unless
 `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given, an editor is started for the user to type
 in the tag message.
 
 If `-m <msg>` or `-F <file>` is given and `-a`, `-s`, and `-u <key-id>`
 are absent, `-a` is implied.
 
-Otherwise just the SHA1 object name of the commit object is
-written (i.e. a lightweight tag).
+Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA1 object name of the commit object is
+created (i.e. a lightweight tag).
 
 A GnuPG signed tag object will be created when `-s` or `-u
 <key-id>` is used.  When `-u <key-id>` is not used, the
diff --git a/Documentation/git-verify-pack.txt b/Documentation/git-verify-pack.txt
index 916a38aa99..0f848de8b2 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-verify-pack.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-verify-pack.txt
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ git-verify-pack - Validate packed git archive files
 
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
-'git verify-pack' [-v|--verbose] [--] <pack>.idx ...
+'git verify-pack' [-v|--verbose] [-s|--stat-only] [--] <pack>.idx ...
 
 
 DESCRIPTION
diff --git a/Documentation/git.txt b/Documentation/git.txt
index e968ed4aa0..0c32d45248 100644
--- a/Documentation/git.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git.txt
@@ -44,9 +44,10 @@ unreleased) version of git, that is available from 'master'
 branch of the `git.git` repository.
 Documentation for older releases are available here:
 
-* link:v1.7.4/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.4]
+* link:v1.7.4.1/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.4.1]
 
 * release notes for
+  link:RelNotes/1.7.4.1.txt[1.7.4.1],
   link:RelNotes/1.7.4.txt[1.7.4].
 
 * link:v1.7.3.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.7.3.5]
diff --git a/Documentation/howto/using-merge-subtree.txt b/Documentation/howto/using-merge-subtree.txt
index 0953a50b69..2933056120 100644
--- a/Documentation/howto/using-merge-subtree.txt
+++ b/Documentation/howto/using-merge-subtree.txt
@@ -71,5 +71,5 @@ Additional tips
   relevant parts of your tree.
 
 - Please note that if the other project merges from you, then it will
-  connects its history to yours, which can be something they don't want
+  connect its history to yours, which can be something they don't want
   to.
diff --git a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
index 44a2ef1de1..9c47ad885b 100644
--- a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ limiting may be applied.
 -n 'number'::
 --max-count=<number>::
 
-	Limit the number of commits output.
+	Limit the number of commits to output.
 
 --skip=<number>::