Re: Why are submodules not automatically handled by default or at least configurable to do so?

I too am interested in finding ways to automate working with submodules, as it's a particular pain point with my colleagues. They frequently shoot themselves in the foot trying to branch and merge a project with submodules, resulting in a broken build and grumpy comments about git (or possibly about me, as the "Git Advocate"). And they're right, it is awkward.

Whether or not any sensible default configuration exists, users do need a way to avoid excessively complicated workflows, or people are just going to avoid using submodules, or perhaps Git. Hand-rolled solutions might be better than nothing, but I would expect that this is a common issue which would benefit from a built-in solution. For instance, so that one can branch and merge the whole project without duplicating the work for each submodule.

Am I correct in thinking there isn't anything which does these kind of things yet?

Thanks!

Nick