Re: [PATCH 2/2] worktree: add `relativeWorktrees` extension

From: Taylor Blau <me@ttaylorr.com>
Date: Oct 28, 2024, 00:20 UTC
Message-ID: <Zx7YxLPItxvFJK62@nand.local>
In-Reply-To: <20241025-wt_relative_options-v1-2-c3005df76bf9@pm.me>

On Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 10:29:47PM +0000, Caleb White wrote:

Show 5 quoted lines

> A new extension, `relativeWorktrees`, is added to indicate that at least
> one worktree in the repository has been linked with relative paths. This
> extension is automatically set when a worktree is created or repaired
> using the `--relative-paths` option, or when the
> `worktree.useRelativePaths` config is set to `true`.

This approach feels like a very heavy hammer. I wonder if writing worktrees with relative paths by default was too aggressive of a step, and if we should instead make the new behavior opt-in rather than opt-out.

Saying that new worktrees are written with relative paths, and that creating a worktree with a new version of Git breaks reading the repository on older versions feels very unsatisfying to me.

> The `relativeWorktrees` extension ensures older Git versions do not
> attempt to automatically prune worktrees with relative paths, as they
> would not not recognize the paths as being valid.

This is the piece of information that I was missing in the earlier round when I merged that down. I think we need to take a step back and think about how to make this change safely in a way that doesn't break compatibility with older versions of Git.

Thanks, Taylor