Re: [PATCH 2/2] checkout: forbid "-B <branch>" from touching a branch used elsewhere

From: Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com>
Date: Dec 4, 2023, 21:06 UTC
Message-ID: <CAPig+cSGF+vQrnD0f99cbdpQOOC7X6ULa9tFe+FwVrG0SF4PGg@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAGX9RpH0RJfBADQwJ=c7PCHU955vOqd0Wdc7Yi7XUuAQQW_FNQ@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 7:21 AM Willem Verstraeten <willem.verstraeten@gmail.com> wrote:

Show 8 quoted lines

> It's not clear for me from the email thread what the status is of this
> bug report, and whether there is still something expected from me.
>
> Is the current consensus that this is a real issue that needs fixing?
> If so, does the current patch-set fix the issue, and how does the fix
> get into (one of) the next release(s)?
>
> Do I still need to do something?

According to Junio's latest "What's cooking"[1], the status of this patch series is:

  * jc/checkout-B-branch-in-use (2023-11-23) 2 commits
   - checkout: forbid "-B <branch>" from touching a branch used elsewhere
   - checkout: refactor die_if_checked_out() caller

   "git checkout -B <branch> [<start-point>]" allowed a branch that is
   in use in another worktree to be updated and checked out, which
   might be a bit unexpected.  The rule has been tightened, which is a
   breaking change.  "--ignore-other-worktrees" option is required to
   unbreak you, if you are used to the current behaviour that "-B"
   overrides the safety.

   Needs review and documentation updates.

I'm not sure if the "Needs review" comment is still applicable since the patch did get some review comments, however, the mentioned documentation update is probably still needed for this series to graduate. I can't speak for what Junio had in mind, but perhaps sufficient would be to add a side-note to the description of the -B option saying that it historically (accidentally) would succeed even if the named branch was checked out in another worktree, but now requires --ignore-other-worktrees.

To move the series forward, someone will probably need to make the necessary documentation update. That someone could be you, if you're interested, either by rerolling Junio's series and modifying patch [2/2] to also make the necessary documentation update, or by posting a patch, [3/2] atop his series which updates the documentation.

[1]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/xmqq8r6j1dgt.fsf@gitster.g/