Re: [PATCH v2] t: run tests from a normalized working directory

> On Mon, Jun 02, 2025 at 02:32:35PM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:
>> Mark Mentovai <mark@chromium.org> writes:
>>
>>> `realpath` is a library interface that transforms paths to those
>>> having the semantics at issue, but it's somewhat obscure, and easily
>>> confused with "real path" whose meaning would be entirely
>>> ambiguous. realpath(3) documentation from POSIX[4] explains the
>>> semantics fully; glibc[5], and Linux man-pages[6] provide full
>>> explanation while also using the term "canonicalize".
>>>
>>> "Canonicalize" alone is too generic, because there are several axes of
>>
>> Yes.  You need to specify what you are canonicalizing to, and once
>> you are going to do so, there is no need for that heavy verb, i.e.
>> you do not need to say "canonicalize it to realpath"---you say "turn
>> it into realpath" and you convey what you want to say just fine.
>>
>>> All of this illustrates the difficulty in choosing a single term to
>>> unambiguously convey the meaning. I chose to write a commit message
>>> that favored technical precision, even if it meant tending toward what
>>> Junio called "the more verbose and repetitive side". I believed that
>>> to be necessary to fully explain the background, the problem, and the
>>> solution.
>>
>> Yup, that is why I said I thought your original was clear enough.
>>
>> I am tempted to say that we take what we have from you and merge it
>> down.
>>
>
> Thanks for the long explanations.
> I still stumble across the headline:
> t: run tests from a normalized working directory
>
> Re-reading the help for realpath() and pwd, would this makes sense:
> t: run tests from an absolute pathname

> An "absolute" path is well-defined and commonly understood to have a
> singular meaning. These paths are relative to the root directory, and are 
> identified by a leading separator (/). POSIX specifies this at XBD.3.2[1] 
> and XBD.4.16[2].
>
> This change is not concerned with absolute paths. All of the paths in
> question are absolute, both before and after this change.