From: Junio C Hamano Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:41:16 GMT Subject: Re: What's cooking in git.git (topics) Message-ID: <7vwt014fib.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.cox.net> In-Reply-To: <81b0412b0704240858w6121430fj624582539f14ceee@mail.gmail.com> "Alex Riesen" writes: > On 4/23/07, Junio C Hamano wrote: >> ... >> That's one of the reasons why only the filter names are assigned >> to paths using gitattributes mechanism and what action to take >> when a specific filter name is attached to a path is determined >> by the config. Missing filter driver definition in the config >> is not an error but makes the filter a no-op passthru. > > Fragile. What if content is useless without filter? In that case, the project screwed itself and it is not our problem anymore ;-). >> The content filtering is to massage the content into a shape >> that is more convenient for the platform/filesystem/the user to >> use. The keyword here is "more convenient" and not "usable"; in > > how can "not usable" be "more convenient"? I think I worded it incorrectly to be misunderstood, but I couldn't word them better then, I do not know I can word them better now. Something could be 1. unusable, or 2. usable. Among usable shapes, there are 2-a. inconvenient but usable and 2-b. very convenient to use. What I tried to say was that if you use filtering mechanism to massage contents that is unusable into usable (i.e. crossing from 1 to 2), you are already misusing the mechanism (but we do not prevent you because we are only "giving you a long rope"). The filter is meant to be used to cross from 2-a to 2-b.