From: Junio C Hamano Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2013 04:59:49 GMT Subject: Re: [PATCH 3/3] t3600: test rm of path with changed leading symlinks Message-ID: <7vsj35efne.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org> In-Reply-To: <20130405000009.GA27775@sigill.intra.peff.net> Jeff King writes: > Here's a replacement for patch 3, then. I wasn't sure if the > editorializing in the last 2 paragraphs should go in the commit message > or the cover letter; feel free to tweak as you see fit. They look fine as they are. > That means the worst case is not the accidental loss of content, > but rather confusion by the user when a copy of a file another > part of the tree is removed. A copy of a file that is on the filesystem that may not be related to the project at all may be lost, and the user may not notice the lossage for quite a while. A symlink that points at /etc/passwd may cause the file to be removed and the user will hopefully notice, but if the pointed-at file is something in $HOME/tmp/ that you occasionally use, you may not notice the lossage immediately, and when you notice the loss, the only assurance you have is that there is a blob that records what was lost _somewhere_ in _some_ of your project that had a symlink that points at $HOME/tmp/ at some point in the past. "Exists somewhere, not lost" is not a very useful assurance, if you ask me ;-)