I didn't check if git claims to support arbitrary filenames. If a leading ~ isn't allowed, then this isn't a bug.
I'm using git-gui version 0.19.GITGUI, from git version 2.3.4, from the Ubuntu PPA. git 2:2.3.4-1avh1~utopic1
steps to reproduce:
mkdir -p git-shellmeta && cd git-shellmeta git init touch '~bin' '~xyz' git gui &
In the gui, ~bin appears in the list of files with unstaged changes. However, instead of appearing as a file, the diff pane shows Git Repository (subproject)
Selecting ~xyz pops up a dialog saying:
Error loading file: user "xyz" doesn't exist
So I guess username expansion is happening somewhere it shouldn't.
The home directory of the "bin" user on my system is /bin, which is not a (subdir of a) git repo. The message that ~bin is a subproject is another symptom of this bug.
PS. no, I didn't name that ~bin file. Someone else left it lying around in a directory.
-- #define X(x,y) x##y Peter Cordes ; e-mail: X(peter@cor , des.ca) "The gods confound the man who first found out how to distinguish the hours! Confound him, too, who in this place set up a sundial, to cut and hack my day so wretchedly into small pieces!" -- Plautus, 200 BC