Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] rm: don't fail when removing populated submodules

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

Jens Lehmann <Jens.Lehmann@web.de> writes:

> Cool, so let's drop this patch and I'll teach "rm" to handle
> populated submodules according to what we do for regular files:
> Make sure there are no modifications which could get lost (unless
> "-f") and remove all tracked files and the gitfile from the work
> tree (unless "--cached") before removing the submodule from the
> index. If the submodule uses the old layout with the .git
> directory instead of a gitfile we error out just like we do today.

Alternatively we could "mv" .git directory out of the way and the
next "git checkout" of a branch that still has the submodule can
make a gitfile to point there, no?

Or we can just error out and tell the user to do so herself.

> And we didn't talk about untracked or ignored files which may live
> inside the submodules work tree so far, but according to what a
> "rm -r" does in the superproject they should still be around after
> using "rm" on a populated submodule, right?

Until we add the "precious" class, untracked and ignored files are
expendable, so if a submodule working tree has no modification and
only has leftover *.o files, they can be nuked as part of submodule
removal, but if it has an untracked and unignored *.c file for
example, the "rm" operation without "-f" should be stopped, no?