add_buffer(&buffer, &size, "parent %s\n", sha1_to_hex(parent_sha1[i]));
 
        /* Person/date information */
-       add_buffer(&buffer, &size, "author %s\n", git_author_info());
-       add_buffer(&buffer, &size, "committer %s\n\n", git_committer_info());
+       add_buffer(&buffer, &size, "author %s\n", git_author_info(1));
+       add_buffer(&buffer, &size, "committer %s\n\n", git_committer_info(1));
 
        /* And add the comment */
        while (fgets(comment, sizeof(comment), stdin) != NULL)
 
 
 }
 
-static const char au_env[] = "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME";
-static const char co_env[] = "GIT_COMMITTER_NAME";
-static const char env_hint[] =
-"\n*** Environment problem:\n"
-"*** Your name cannot be determined from your system services (gecos).\n"
-"*** You would need to set %s and %s\n"
-"*** environment variables; otherwise you won't be able to perform\n"
-"*** certain operations because of \"empty ident\" errors.\n\n";
-
 int setup_ident(void)
 {
        int len;
        /* Get the name ("gecos") */
        copy_gecos(pw, git_default_name, sizeof(git_default_name));
 
-       if (!*git_default_name) {
-               if (!getenv(au_env) || !getenv(co_env))
-                       fprintf(stderr, env_hint, au_env, co_env);
-       }
-
        /* Make up a fake email address (name + '@' + hostname [+ '.' + domainname]) */
        len = strlen(pw->pw_name);
        if (len > sizeof(git_default_email)/2)
        return offset;
 }
 
+static const char au_env[] = "GIT_AUTHOR_NAME";
+static const char co_env[] = "GIT_COMMITTER_NAME";
+static const char *env_hint =
+"\n*** Environment problem:\n"
+"*** Your name cannot be determined from your system services (gecos).\n"
+"*** You would need to set %s and %s\n"
+"*** environment variables; otherwise you won't be able to perform\n"
+"*** certain operations because of \"empty ident\" errors.\n"
+"*** Alternatively, you can use user.name configuration variable.\n\n";
+
 static const char *get_ident(const char *name, const char *email,
-                            const char *date_str)
+                            const char *date_str, int error_on_no_name)
 {
        static char buffer[1000];
        char date[50];
        if (!email)
                email = git_default_email;
 
-       if (!*name || !*email)
-               die("empty ident %s <%s> not allowed",
-                   name, email);
+       if (!*name) {
+               if (name == git_default_name && env_hint) {
+                       fprintf(stderr, env_hint, au_env, co_env);
+                       env_hint = NULL; /* warn only once, for "git-var -l" */
+               }
+               if (error_on_no_name)
+                       die("empty ident %s <%s> not allowed", name, email);
+       }
 
        strcpy(date, git_default_date);
        if (date_str)
        return buffer;
 }
 
-const char *git_author_info(void)
+const char *git_author_info(int error_on_no_name)
 {
        return get_ident(getenv("GIT_AUTHOR_NAME"),
                         getenv("GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL"),
-                        getenv("GIT_AUTHOR_DATE"));
+                        getenv("GIT_AUTHOR_DATE"),
+                        error_on_no_name);
 }
 
-const char *git_committer_info(void)
+const char *git_committer_info(int error_on_no_name)
 {
        return get_ident(getenv("GIT_COMMITTER_NAME"),
                         getenv("GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL"),
-                        getenv("GIT_COMMITTER_DATE"));
+                        getenv("GIT_COMMITTER_DATE"),
+                        error_on_no_name);
 }
 
 
 struct git_var {
        const char *name;
-       const char *(*read)(void);
+       const char *(*read)(int);
 };
 static struct git_var git_vars[] = {
        { "GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT", git_committer_info },
 {
        struct git_var *ptr;
        for(ptr = git_vars; ptr->read; ptr++) {
-               printf("%s=%s\n", ptr->name, ptr->read());
+               printf("%s=%s\n", ptr->name, ptr->read(0));
        }
 }
 
        val = NULL;
        for(ptr = git_vars; ptr->read; ptr++) {
                if (strcmp(var, ptr->name) == 0) {
-                       val = ptr->read();
+                       val = ptr->read(1);
                        break;
                }
        }