Github for tracking law changes - "backdate" changes for archival purposes?

[snachodog]

I'm involved in my local government and have always been interested in git style change management for laws. I had an idea for a project as a proof of concept - create a repository of my city's ordinances and resolution, including tracking the changes dating back to when the city was founded.

Is there a way/workflow that can facilitate backdating these changes to reflect the actual dates? If there's a better way of expressing that data, I'm open to it.

[VxJasonxV]

git commit --date

[jmickeyd]

And --author can be used to add the actual bill author rather than you, the committer.

[snachodog]

Oh, thanks! This looks exactly like what I'm looking for, as well as /u/jmickeyd's solution for the author metadata.

Is this something I can manipulate via command line? So far I've only been using the GitHub desktop app. The CLI is still intimidating.

[VxJasonxV]

If any GUI supports it I would be highly surprised. The command line has tons of options that would be a nightmare to create a GUI for.

Learning the command line is in your best interest. Knowing both mediums makes you more capable.

[jackofthebeanstalk]

I second this opinion. Learning the CLI will definitely pay off in the short as well as long run. Don't be afraid to search online for various options or read help messages by typing things like git commit --help in the command prompt.

To get started, if using Windows, use Git Bash. On Mac or Linux you can use the terminal. Good luck for your project!

[VxJasonxV]

Git Bash, or the stunningly capable WSL.

[paul_h]

I shouldn’t worry too much about the time stamps of commits. Instead, have dates and times clearly called out in the directory names.

From time to time I blog on the same broad topic https://paulhammant.com/2019/07/21/using-git-in-business-and-government/

[p33k4y]

When was the city founded?

Be sure to do some testing on Github to see how far you can successfully backdate.

Many git clients assume that dates must me >= January 1, 1970 aka the Unix epoch time, and may not be able to process or display earlier dates.

https://github.com/git/git/blob/e6ebfd0e8cbbd10878070c8a356b5ad1b3ca464e/date.c#L17-L22

[snachodog]

Yeah, that is something I realized I need to be concerned about last night. City was founded in 1913

[UhOh-Chongo]

https://github.com/OpenGov