Re: Git checkout preserve timestamp?

From: Karl Hasselström <kha@treskal.com>
Date: Mar 2, 2007, 16:21 UTC
Message-ID: <20070302162136.GA9593@diana.vm.bytemark.co.uk>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.63.0703021618000.22628@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de>

On 2007-03-02 16:18:41 +0100, Johannes Schindelin wrote:

Show 14 quoted lines

> On Fri, 2 Mar 2007, Bill Lear wrote:
>
> > On Friday, March 2, 2007 at 10:14:26 (+0100) Karl Hasselström
> > writes:
>
> > > Of course, the proper fix is to use a make-like tool that uses
> > > content hashes as well as timestamps to decide if a file has
> > > been updated ...
> >
> > I like this idea...
>
> I don't like it at all. The proper fix is to _not_ change the
> contents of the current working directory, if you don't want to
> change them to begin with.

Well, in a sense, yes. Not overwriting the current state when all you want to do is peek at some other state is obviously the better fix of the two.

However, given that your file timestamps have been bumped (without file content changes), it's a performance bug in your make tool if this causes it to needlessly rebuild half the known universe. (Fixing the bug by using content hashes to detect changes may or may not be a good trade-off, depending on your workflow.)

-- 
Karl Hasselström, kha@treskal.com
      www.treskal.com/kalle