Idea: Use `git config user.name/email` as default values

[NMertsch]

What is the problem or limitation you are having?

During briefcase new, the setup process asks for the Author and Author's Email. The default values are rarely correct (Jane Developer, author.firstname@domain).

Describe the solution you'd like

I think it would be nice to use the values of git config user.name and git config user.email as default values, if available.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I'm aware that this is only a minor convenience feature, and that the additional complexity might not be worth it. Feel free to reject this idea 🙂

Additional context

If you are interested in having this, I'm willing to investigate possible implementations, and create a PR if I find a feasible solution.

[freakboy3742]

Thanks for the suggestion.

We can't necessarily guarantee that these values have been set - but if they have been, they're definitely reasonable defaults for Briefcase to assume - they're certainly more likely to be correct than "Jane Developer" 😄

An idea related to this one is to add the analog of git config to Briefcase - so you could configure your Briefcase install to use your own name and email. There are other values that could be set as defaults (like your default iOS/Android simulator, or default signing credentials). However, that would only serve to add another (and more reliable) default; having a git fallback will always be useful.