Re: hard dependency on Git? (was bug#65866: [PATCH 0/8] Add built-in builder for Git checkouts)

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi,

Josselin Poiret <dev@jpoiret.xyz> skribis:

> My opinion is that the preferred API for Git is still the UNIX one via
> plumbing commands.  Anything else is trying to catch up to it, and then
> we get into this conundrum that we want to do everything in Scheme, but
> we're unable to do it as well as Git itself.  If I had to choose, a
> Guile library wrapping the Git commands would be the best, especially
> since we're managing long-living checkouts, something libgit2 doen't
> seem too interested in.

I have mixed feelings here.  Clearly, I don’t think a Unix command can
ever be as rich and efficient as a “proper library”.

Are alternative Git implementations doomed to always try to catch up?
My intuition would be “no”, because not so much changes in Git as an
on-disk format and protocol.

There is one big change coming up though: SHA256 support (now officially
supported in Git).  Is it being discussed in libgit2?

Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com> skribis:

> Josselin Poiret <dev@jpoiret.xyz> writes:

[...]

>> There's still the `git gc` problem though.
>
> It's klunky, but a workaround is to locally clone the checkout anew
> using libgit2, as suggested here [0].
>
> [0]  https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/issues/3247#issuecomment-486585944

That doesn’t work, at least with libgit2 1.3.2:

  https://issues.guix.gnu.org/65720#7

> We could also try to contribute to libgit2 toward adding proper
> support for a 'gc' action.

I share this sentiment: if we’re gonna depend on it, we’ve gotta invest
in it.  We’re benefiting from it so we shouldn’t be mere consumers.

I have to admit I don’t see myself doing it right now, but I would
definitely encourage others to do so.

Now, as a corollary to what I wrote above: if we don’t invest in it, we
should be prepared to drop it.

Ludo’.