Re: [PATCH] rev-parse --git-path: fix output when running in a subdirectory

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: Feb 9, 2017, 22:11 UTC
Message-ID: <alpine.DEB.2.20.1702092304250.3496@virtualbox>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqshnnnj6q.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com>

Hi Junio,

On Thu, 9 Feb 2017, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 21 quoted lines

> Duy Nguyen <pclouds@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> > Relevant thread in the past [1] which fixes both --git-path and
> > --git-common-dir. I think the author dropped it somehow (or forgot
> > about it, I know I did). Sorry can't comment on that thread, or this
> > patch, yet.
> >
> > [1] http://public-inbox.org/git/1464261556-89722-1-git-send-email-rappazzo@gmail.com/
> 
> Thanks for a pointer.  I see Mike responded to this message (I
> haven't had a chance to read and think about it yet), so I trust
> that you three can figure out if these are the same issues and what
> the final solution in the longer term should be.  
> 
> I have no strong opinion for or against a "longer term" solution
> that makes "rev-parse --git-path" behave differently from how it
> behaves today, but I am not yet convinced that we can reach that
> longer term goal without a transition period, as I suspect there are
> existing users that know and came to expect how it behaves, based on
> its today's behaviour.  Other than that I do not have suggestion on
> this topic at the moment.

Given that

- the output is incorrect, not some output that could maybe be improved,

- warnings in a script execution are most likely to be missed,

- --git-path gives incorrect output in subdirectories, except inside
  worktrees, therefore scripts relying on the current behavior are highly
  likely to misbehave in worktrees anyway,

- leaving this bug unfixed even when we know about it for 3 major releases
  reflects really badly on Git as a project, and

- the longer we wait to fix this bug, the more developers will simply stay
  away from --git-path (of course, only *after* they were bitten by the
  bug, like I was),

it should be safe to assume that a transitional period is more likely to do more harm to our users than bring benefit.

Ciao, Johannes