Subject: Re: [PATCH 3/5] roaring: teach Git to write roaring bitmaps

From: Junio C Hamano <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2022 09:06:32 -0700

Derrick Stolee <[email-masked]> writes:

> I HAVE OPINIONS! :D
>
> Mostly, there are two things I'd like for you to keep in mind:

Nicely summarised.

Stepping back a bit, we do not care about how the sources to some
pieces of software we depend on, say OpenSSL, match our style guide.
It is because we do not even have to see them while working on Git,
but also because we do not have to maintain it.

So a third-option could be to fill pieces missing from the upstream
(e.g. big endian support) and contribute them back, and after that
treat them as just one of the external dependencies, just like we
happen to have a copy of sha1dc code for convenience but have an
option to use the upstream code as a submodule.

Assuming that such a "they are just one of our external
dependencies, just like OpenSSL or cURL libraries" happens, I would
not worry too much about C11, as long as use of roaring bitmaps can
be made an optional feature that can be disabled at compile time.
Bitmaps are used only for local optimization and never transferred
across repositories, so you having only ewah would not prevent you
from talking with other people with both ewah and roaring.