Re: [RFC-PATCHv2] submodules: add a background story

> Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com> writes:
>
>> On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 1:56 PM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
>>> Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> If we were to redesign the .gitmodules file, we might have it as
>>>>
>>>>     [submodule "path"]
>>>>         url = git://example.org
>>>>         branch = .
>>>>         ...
>>>>
>>>> and the "path -> name/UID" mapping would be inside $GIT_DIR.
>>>
>>> I am not sure how you are going to keep track of that mapping,
>>> though.  If .gitmodules file does not have a way to tell that what
>>> used to be at "path" in its v1.0 is now at "htap" (instead the above
>>> seems to assume there will just be an entry for [submodule "htap"]
>>> in the newer version, without anything that links the old one with
>>> the new one), how would the mapping inside $GIT_DIR know?
>>
>> It depends. Maybe git-mv could have rewritten the internal mapping
>> as well.
>
> And then after doing the "git mv" you have pushed the result, which
> I pulled.  Now, how will your "internal mapping" propagate to me?

>
> I also do not think "this is similar to file renames" holds water.
> Moving the path a submodule bound to from one path to another is
> done as a whole, and it is not like the blob contents where we need
> to handle patch application that expresses a move as creation and
> deletion of similar contents at two different paths.  We can afford
> to be precise (after all, we are recording other information about
> submodules by having an extra .gitmodules file).
>
> In short, "name" is not a design mistake at all.  That needs to be
> excised from the "background story".