Subject: Re: [PATCH 08/16] update submodules: add depopulate_submodule

From: Brandon Williams <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 14:29:26 -0800

On 11/17, Stefan Beller wrote:
> Well first you get the warning:
> 
>     "cannot remove submodule '%s' because it (or one of "
>     "its nested submodules) uses a .git directory"),
> 
> and in case a d/f/ conflict arises in a later stage (e.g. when the submodule
> is replaced by a file or symlink), you get another related error with
> less helpful description how to debug it.

Maybe a warning isn't the right thing?  Shouldn't the checkout fail if
there are any issues?  This would force the user to stash/commit their
changes and then retry.

> >  All other submodules will actually be removed? Couldn't
> > you end up in an undesirable state with a checkout effecting one
> > submodule but not another?
> 
> Yes you could. Maybe it's time to add
> "git submodule intern-git-dir", which can be given as a helpful hint
> or even run here first.

That would be a good idea, does that functionality already exist in one
form or another?  I'm assuming it must since git update does just that
when cloning a submodule.

-- 
Brandon Williams