At 06:58 -0700 08 Apr 2013, Junio C Hamano <gitster@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I do agree that it would be nice to dereference .git gitfile when we deal with --reference argument, but you do not want to use in-tree repository of a submodule working tree. What happens when you have to check out a version of the containing superproject that did not have the submodule you are borrowing from? The directory will disappear, leaving the borrowing repository still pointing at it with its .git/objects/info/alternates file, no?
No, submodule directories don't get removed when you checkout a version which didn't contain that submodule. I believe that there are plans to change that for submodules which store the repository data under the containing project's .git directory; but removing the submodule working tree would not affect a repository using that submodule as a reference, since the reading of the .git file is only done during the initial clone. I don't think that the risk of such a repository being deleted or moved is substantially higher than for any other repository.
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