Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] builtin/mktree: remove USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE

From: Tian Yuchen <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2026 02:49:05 +0800

Hi Junio,

> RUN_SETUP also guarantees that the repo points at the_repository.
> 
> The patch is not wrong per-se, but at the same time, it is not a
> very interesting change exactly for this reason.
> 
> Where did you read that dropping USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE is a
> good idea?

I mentioned this at the bottom of v1:

> I originally intended to attempt the #FIXME in t1006-cat-file.sh.
> I followed the clues all the way here, only to discover that the
> FIXME required a level of expertise far beyond my capabilities,
> so I gave up. However, I spot the global variable here, so I went
> ahead and fixed it 😉

In other words, I just happened to see this thing. I didn't go looking 
for it ;)

> As somebody (Phillip?) said earlier, we probably should update
> document and clearly say that removing USE_THE_REPOSITORY_VARIABLE
> is not a high-value target when done in the builtin/ directory, even
> though it is very desirable thing to do for more library-ish part of
> the codebase.

I am fully aware of this, and I did not specifically modify 
the_repository in builtin/ during previous patches. It's just that this 
macro makes me particularly uncomfortable, and I believe it would be 
better to remove it.

On the other hand, this patch is indeed boring and useless. Feel free to 
ignore it.

Regards,

Yuchen