From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on dcvr.yhbt.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.9 required=3.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,SPF_HELO_PASS,SPF_PASS shortcircuit=no autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [23.128.96.18]) by dcvr.yhbt.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id D68491F66F for ; Wed, 28 Oct 2020 21:34:26 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1726551AbgJ1VeR (ORCPT ); Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:34:17 -0400 Received: from pb-smtp2.pobox.com ([64.147.108.71]:56427 "EHLO pb-smtp2.pobox.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1726460AbgJ1VeO (ORCPT ); Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:34:14 -0400 Received: from pb-smtp2.pobox.com (unknown [127.0.0.1]) by pb-smtp2.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id D543773271; Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:14:17 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from junio@pobox.com) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed; d=pobox.com; h=from:to:cc :subject:references:date:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version :content-type; s=sasl; bh=cJf+zM9wkXdIizDhbHTSE3QgbLk=; b=YnKqYW itUfqQk2d/DOAts+ZMUu4owkPjvZniKOuKJRSbb2vj1509y7jD8sSRw7+Oz/Qs2C 52pCagXXKgt/BbJxF/u3q+V/JoK7ENCqSmLKduY/jI6Zo3YkHhkNG6lPE5DZdqKb ag3jFgh00Z+C8Dy0Z7LlbzIGgQeuIK+DAf8wI= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=pobox.com; h=from:to:cc :subject:references:date:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version :content-type; q=dns; s=sasl; b=qUtXbQd+RYr6GN1vpog4qwhUIzcUxNTG 2WQTB1CX2HUiACw1dweR1oIZdkNr/3POyhNcNdeK+YXKmzgN4qlMvJG2aR/OhBaP QycdTJvRsobfEg8Ok9tLStZz4A3mg2KthGsqrDSIks3R3xtRIqO6YFIlecaGxkVI odG+46gJrxw= Received: from pb-smtp2.nyi.icgroup.com (unknown [127.0.0.1]) by pb-smtp2.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id CBFB27326F; Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:14:17 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from junio@pobox.com) Received: from pobox.com (unknown [34.75.7.245]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by pb-smtp2.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 5A7837326C; Wed, 28 Oct 2020 15:14:17 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from junio@pobox.com) From: Junio C Hamano To: Philip Oakley Cc: Jeff King , git@vger.kernel.org, Jonathan Nieder Subject: Re: [PATCH] documentation symlink restrictions for .git* files References: <20201005071751.GA2290770@coredump.intra.peff.net> <20201005121609.GA2907272@coredump.intra.peff.net> <6c0a0036-e217-a334-2a74-dd59a4592c1f@iee.email> <20201023081711.GB4012156@coredump.intra.peff.net> <8bb54778-507c-2e3f-d35a-5e32edb8bee7@iee.email> <20201026225300.GA23128@coredump.intra.peff.net> <20201027072648.GG3005508@coredump.intra.peff.net> <21e4bac1-b3ef-e28f-586d-fe17baf6b15e@iee.email> Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2020 12:14:16 -0700 In-Reply-To: <21e4bac1-b3ef-e28f-586d-fe17baf6b15e@iee.email> (Philip Oakley's message of "Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:00:53 +0000") Message-ID: User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/27.1 (gnu/linux) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Pobox-Relay-ID: C63CE09C-1951-11EB-ADED-74DE23BA3BAF-77302942!pb-smtp2.pobox.com Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Philip Oakley writes: > On 27/10/2020 18:45, Junio C Hamano wrote: >> Jeff King writes: >> >>>> DESCRIPTION >>>> ----------- >>>> >>>> -A `gitattributes` file is a simple text file that gives >>>> -`attributes` to pathnames. >>>> +A `gitattributes` file is a simple text file (it cannot be a >>>> +symbolic link to anything) that gives `attributes` to pathnames. >>> I worried that even a short mention like this would be distracting. Not >>> because it's so long, but because it's right there in the very first >>> sentence, and I really think this is a corner case that most people >>> would not even think about. >>> >>> So it is helpful if you are looking for info on symlinks and these >>> files, but probably clutter if you are looking for something else. >>> >>> I have to admit I don't feel all that strongly either way, though. >> I don't, either, and as I said, I found that the placement of new >> text was OK. >> >> > I do think that the extra text above is the right thing to do. > > We should be informing readers early about things that are expressly > prohibited. It needs to be balanced, though. If it is so common a temptation among readers to make a symbolic link out of the tracked contents, perhaps it is worth telling them that they shouldn't do so, but I just do not get the feeling that it is the case.