Re: [PATCH] clone: forbid --bare --separate-git-dir <dir>

[Duy Nguyen <pclouds@gmail.com>]

On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 12:45 AM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
> Jens Lehmann <Jens.Lehmann@web.de> writes:
>
>> Am 08.01.2013 15:16, schrieb Duy Nguyen:
>>> On Sun, Jan 06, 2013 at 02:19:48AM -0800, Jonathan Nieder wrote:
>>>>     Unfortunately we forgot to forbid the --bare
>>>>     --separate-git-dir combination.  In practice, we know no one
>>>>     could be using --bare with --separate-git-dir because it is
>>>>     broken in the following way: <explanation here>.  So it is
>>>>     safe to make good on our mistake and forbid the combination,
>>>>     making the command easier to explain.
>>>>
>>>> I don't know what would go in the <explanation here> blank above,
>>>> though.  Is it possible that some people are relying on this option
>>>> combination?
>>>
>>> I can't say it's broken in what way. Maybe it's easier to just support
>>> this case, it's not much work anyway. Jens, maybe squash this to your
>>> original patch?
>>
>> I'd be fine with that, though my gut feeling is that this should
>> be a patch of its own (My patch handles the git dir, your's handles
>> a work tree issue).
>
> I agree that these are totally unrelated issues.
>
> After all, Jonathan's suggestion to forbid it was because the
> combination does not make sense and does not have practical uses,
> and forbidding it would make the command easier to explain than
> leaving it accepted from the command line.  If you choose to go in
> the opposite direction and make "clone --bare --separate-git-dir" do
> something useful, it should be explained very well in the
> documentation part of the patch why such a combination is a good
> idea, and in what situation the behaviour is useful and the user may
> want to consider using it, I think.

It is more like postponing the usefulness evaluation of the
combination until later (maybe someone will come up with an actual use
case). As of now, --separate-git-dir --bare is a valid combination.
Jens' patch fixes one case but leave the other case broken, which is
why I think it should be in one patch. It's rather ducking head in the
sand than actually declaring that the combination is useful.
-- 
Duy