Re: What's cooking in git.git (Jul 2019, #06; Thu, 25)

From: Taylor Blau <me@ttaylorr.com>
Date: Aug 9, 2019, 00:13 UTC
Message-ID: <20190809001315.GA87896@syl.lan>
In-Reply-To: <xmqq36itprzo.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com>

Hi Junio,

On Thu, Jul 25, 2019 at 05:19:23PM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 29 quoted lines

> Here are the topics that have been cooking.  Commits prefixed with
> '-' are only in 'pu' (proposed updates) while commits prefixed with
> '+' are in 'next'.  The ones marked with '.' do not appear in any of
> the integration branches, but I am still holding onto them.
>
> The seventh batch is in; I've merged fix-up topics that has been in
> 'master' for some time (i.e. up to the third batch of this cycle)
> down to 'maint'.
>
> You can find the changes described here in the integration branches
> of the repositories listed at
>
>     http://git-blame.blogspot.com/p/git-public-repositories.html
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> [Graduated to "master"]
>
> *snip*
>
> * ac/log-use-mailmap-by-default-transition (2019-07-15) 3 commits
>   (merged to 'next' on 2019-07-19 at e5669de950)
>  + tests: defang pager tests by explicitly disabling the log.mailmap warning
>  + documentation: mention --no-use-mailmap and log.mailmap false setting
>  + log: add warning for unspecified log.mailmap setting
>
>  The "git log" command learns to issue a warning when log.mailmap
>  configuration is not set and --[no-]mailmap option is not used, to
>  prepare users for future versions of Git that uses the mailmap by
>  default.

Sorry for jumping into this discussion quite late. I was discussing this change with a colleague of mine who pointed out an issue with the eventual new defaults. I'd like to re-raise the issues they shared with me on the list for discussion, and if agreement is reached, I will send a series that reverts these changes.

If a transgender person uses '.mailmap' to rewrite their deadname to their legal name (as was the original motivation in [1]), there are two potential issues:

  - The '.mailmap' provides a list of transgender individuals, along
    with their deadname, which can be used to harass them.

  - If they are not in control of the '.mailmap', and 'log.mailmap' is
    not specifiable (and instead defaults to 'true'), then a malicious
    maintainer or contributor can submit a change that rewrites their
    real name to their deadname, and harasses them further.

This issue was not raised in the original discussion, but it's clear that this has the potential be used for bad, not good.

Given that the release is so close, I propose we revert this change before v2.23.0 is tagged. After that, we ought to discuss ways for folks to change how their name is displayed in porcelain commands, and thoroughly consider whether or not a new plan is exploitable.

If you think this is a good course of action, I will send a series to revert the changes that were queued here.

Thanks, Taylor

[1]: https://public-inbox.org/git/CABURp0poUjSBTTFUXP8dAmJ=37qvpe64=o+t_+mHOiK9Cv+=kg@mail.gmail.com/