Re: Git Gui Clone: Error Failed to create repository (with hints)

[Jeff King <peff@peff.net>]

On Fri, Mar 29, 2024 at 10:12:17PM +0100, Tobias Boesch wrote:

> when I clone a git repo (from github or COdeberg) through Git Gui I get
> the following GUI error (nothing in the terminal and nothing in
> journalctl):
> 
> "Failed to create repository <repo-path>: Hint Using 'master' as the
> name for the initial branch. This default branch..." and so on.
> 
> Screenshot
> https://i.postimg.cc/66df98MZ/Screenshot-from-2024-03-29-22-06-49.png
> 
> I have no idea what is going on here. Has someone an idea what the
> reason could be?

I don't work on or use git-gui, but it is written in Tcl/Tk. And IIRC
Tcl is very anxious to consider programs that print anything to stderr
as "failed". And in this case we are just printing warning/hint
diagnostics to stderr.

I suspect there are solutions within git-gui's code base to check the
actual exit code, and it's just a bug that we're not using them in this
instance. But the obvious workaround in the meantime is to set the
config that the hint mentions, which should silence it.

> Cloning the same source into the same path from command line works.
> The cloned git repo opens fine in git gui.

Right, the clone is happening fine. It's just that git-gui is
incorrectly thinking that it failed.

-Peff