Re: [PATCH v2] builtin/mktree: remove USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE

From: Tian Yuchen <cat@malon.dev>
Date: Mar 12, 2026, 18:49 UTC
Message-ID: <2c9861c0-fdac-4123-8cd9-4a841755abf3@malon.dev>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqsea5ezwl.fsf@gitster.g>

Hi Junio,

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> RUN_SETUP also guarantees that the repo points at the_repository.
> 
> The patch is not wrong per-se, but at the same time, it is not a
> very interesting change exactly for this reason.
> 
> Where did you read that dropping USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE is a
> good idea?

I mentioned this at the bottom of v1:

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> I originally intended to attempt the #FIXME in t1006-cat-file.sh.
> I followed the clues all the way here, only to discover that the
> FIXME required a level of expertise far beyond my capabilities,
> so I gave up. However, I spot the global variable here, so I went
> ahead and fixed it 😉

In other words, I just happened to see this thing. I didn't go looking for it ;)

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> As somebody (Phillip?) said earlier, we probably should update
> document and clearly say that removing USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
> is not a high-value target when done in the builtin/ directory, even
> though it is very desirable thing to do for more library-ish part of
> the codebase.

I am fully aware of this, and I did not specifically modify the_repository in builtin/ during previous patches. It's just that this macro makes me particularly uncomfortable, and I believe it would be better to remove it.

On the other hand, this patch is indeed boring and useless. Feel free to ignore it.

Regards,

Yuchen