Subject: Re: [PATCH 3/9] submodule: add gitdir path config override

From: Adrian Ratiu <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2025 15:02:40 +0300

On Mon, 08 Sep 2025, Phillip Wood <[email-masked]> 
wrote:
> Hi Adrian 
> 
> On 16/08/2025 22:36, Adrian Ratiu wrote: 
>> This adds an ability to override gitdir paths via config files 
>> (not .gitmodules), such that any encoding scheme can be changed 
>> and JGit & co don't need to exactly match the default encoding. 
> 
> Reading the old email thread you linked to in the cover letter, 
> my  understanding is that this was suggested as an alternative 
> to changing  the gitdir for submodules from "modules" to 
> "submodules". Do the later  patches set this key when encoding 
> the gitdir so that JGit can find the  gitdir by reading the 
> config? 

I read it more like a complementary / good-to-have feature than a 
requirement for getting JGit & co to work or as a path to keep 
"legacy" and "new/encoded" modules in a unified dir/namespace. :)

The key is not set automatically, which also avoids unnecessary 
config clutter and is mostly useful to change the encoding and 
simplify tests.

I see your point though: it's not a necessary requirement for the 
git core encoding itself, both due to the separate dir/namespace 
and because we'll add an extension in v3, so the other 
implementations will have to explicitely add support for it.

Will reword the commit msg to make it more clear in v3. Let me 
know if you have more thoughts or any concerns.

Thanks,
Adrian