Re: [PATCH RFC v3 2/2] Move libgit.a sources into separate "lib/" directory

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Jul 20, 2026, 22:43 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqqzkx9t95.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To: <al6Yz_QMlyU1GETv@fruit.crustytoothpaste.net>

"brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net> writes:

> I would very much welcome better rename support and I'm sure the
> community would as well.  If we can incentivize ourselves to step up and
> implement that, I'm all for it.

I would welcome such an effort. It is, however, a different story to move things simply because we want to move them, without a concrete need or strategy to do so.

In any case, the root level of the 'lib/' directory introduced by the 'ps/libgit-in-subdir' topic is full of source files, with only a small number of focused subdirectories like 'odb/', 'refs/', and 'ewah/' mixed in to house specific subsystems. This merely shifts the clutter one level down without resolving it.

I would rather see a structure where each subsystem-like group carves out its own directory.

I do not particularly care whether such a directory lives at the root level or inside 'lib/'. But if we were to establish a sensible grouping, I suspect we would not need a 'lib/' directory solely to house the 'refs/' and 'odb/' subdirectories. Instead, it would be sufficiently clean to have 'refs/', 'odb/', and other subsystem directories directly under the root level.

I do not think we want to do this in a single large change. If we were to move everything to 'lib/' only to then need to further group them into subdirectories of 'lib/', it would subject us to multiple rounds of disruption. I suspect it would be far less disruptive if we migrated one subsystem at a time, directly to a new directory immediately below the root level.