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Re: [PATCH] gitk: Use git-difftool for external diffs

From
David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>
Date
Nov 19, 2009, 19:39 UTC
Message-ID
<20091119193913.GA25410@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<19205.2531.205062.980468@cargo.ozlabs.ibm.com>
On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 08:03:31PM +1100, Paul Mackerras wrote:
Show 10 quoted lines
> David Aguilar writes:
> 
> > This teaches gitk about git-difftool.  A benefit of this change is
> > that gitk's external diff now works with read-only repositories.
> 
> What version of git does git difftool first appear in?  I prefer not
> to introduce hard requirements on very recent versions of git into
> gitk.
> 
> Paul.
git-difftool appeared in git 1.6.3.

If this patch is not going in then how do you suggest we fix the read-only repository bug?

My immediate thought is to harden the $TMPDIR patch so that the filenames used by gitk are much less predictable (I bailed on it once Peff noted the $TMPDIR vulnerabilities and used git-difftool instead since it is known to be safe).

Does hardening the $TMPDIR patch have a better chance of being accepted?

In defense of difftool: there are more benefits to using git-difftool than just read-only repositories. The current external diff code does not work if 'meld' is not installed whereas using git-difftool works by default in more environments. It also makes things match users' expectations when they have already gone through the trouble of configuring a diff or merge tool.

Is there a particular time frame in which such a patch could go in?

My primary concern is getting gitk to work with read-only repositories. git-difftool was just one way of getting there. If keeping backwards compatibility is a must-have then I can hold onto the git-difftool patch until some time in the future when it is more appropriate. Hopefully something along the lines of a hardened $TMPDIR patch can stand in for the final fix in the meantime.

What do you think?
-- 
		David
Previous: Paul MackerrasNext: Paul Mackerras
Message 3 of 13 in “gitk: Use git-difftool for external diffs”
  1. gitk: Use git-difftool for external diffsDavid Aguilar, Nov 16, 2009
  2. Paul MackerrasNov 19, 2009
  3. David AguilarNov 19, 2009
  4. Paul MackerrasNov 19, 2009
  5. Junio C HamanoNov 20, 2009
  6. David AguilarNov 20, 2009
  7. Junio C HamanoNov 20, 2009
  8. David AguilarNov 21, 2009
  9. Markus HeidelbergNov 20, 2009
  10. Nanako ShiraishiDec 30, 2009
  11. Junio C HamanoDec 30, 2009
  12. David AguilarDec 31, 2009
  13. Junio C HamanoDec 31, 2009

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