Re: An idea: maybe Git should use a lock/unlock file mode for problematic files? [Was: Re: after first git clone of linux kernel repository there are changed files in working dir]

[Alex Riesen <raa.lkml@gmail.com>]

2009/1/21 Daniel Barkalow <barkalow@iabervon.org>:
> On Wed, 21 Jan 2009, Alex Riesen wrote:
>
>> 2009/1/20 Daniel Barkalow <barkalow@iabervon.org>:
>> > My impression was that this didn't happen in practice, because teams
>> > would tend to not have two people create the same file at the same time,
>> > but with different cases, and people interacting with the same file at
>> > different times would use whatever case it was introduced with.
>>
>> It will and does happen in practice (annoingly too often even). Not with Git
>> yet (with Perforce), where people do "branching" by simply copying things
>> in another directory (perforce world does not know real branches),
>> renaming files randomly, and putting the new directory back in the
>> system (or maybe it is the strange tools here which do that - often
>> it is the first character of a directory or file which gets down- or up-cased).
>
> How does the resulting code work at all? ...

Sometimes it does not. Sometimes it does. Depends on that particular
checkout order perforce (or user?) selected to use this time.

> ... With a case-sensitive filesystem,
> most of the files you're using don't have the expected names any more, and
> most systems will therefore not actually build or run.

Except that there is no case-sensitive file systems on development machines.
So a botched case wont be noticed by a standard build procedure unless
the content of the files causes an error.

>> As Perforce itself is case sensitive (like Git), using of such branches
>> is a nightmare: the files get overwritten in checkout order which is
>> not always sorted in predictable order. Combined with case-stupidity
>> of the file system the working directories sometimes cause "interesting
>> time" for unlucky users.
>> Luckily (sadly) it is all-opening-in-a-wall shop, so the problem with "fanthom"
>> files is rare (it is hard to notice) for most. Which actually makes it more
>> frustrating when the real shit happens.
>>
>> And it will happen to Git as well, especially if development go crossplatform.
>> It is not that hard to accidentally rename a file on case-sensitive file system,
>> "git add *" it and commit without thinking (that's how most of software
>> development happens, come to think of it).
>
> People can accidentally rename files?

Aside from tools (and in my own experience - I did) - they can and do.

> And still have things work when they do it on a case-sensitive filesystem?

Shameless luck, I'd say. That and "no file systems permitted, but the one
from finance dept".