Re: [PATCH] submodule documentation: Reorder introductory paragraphs

Stefan Beller [off-list ref] writes:

On Fri, May 22, 2015 at 7:36 AM, Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] wrote:

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Stefan Beller [off-list ref] writes:

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On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 1:03 PM, Philip Oakley [off-list ref] wrote:

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+Submodules are not to be confused with remotes, which are meant
+mainly for branches of the same project;

This use of 'branches' didn't work for me. "remotes are meant mainly for
branches of the same project" ?

The "branch" in the original is used in a much wider sense than
usual branch (i.e. ref/heads/ thing you have locally); it refers to
forks of the same project but with a bit of twist.  When you say
repository A is a fork of the same project as my local repository,
you would give an impression that A is not the authoritative copy of
the project.  But you can say my repository and that repository A
are branches of the same project, you give zero information as to
A's authoritativeness.

While this is correct, I think it is also confusing, because...

Oh, no question about it.  In modern Git parlance, it confuses by
conflating 'branch' (which is local ref/heads/ thing) with something
entirely different.  I wasn't saying "'branch' is correct and we
should keep the description that way".

If you dig ancient list archives, you see Linus and I using 'branch'
to mean "your copy of the project" quite often, and that is likely
where the above phrase originated.  It was one of those "explaining
historical background", nothing more.

I probably should start prefixing all my "explaining historical
background" sentences as such.

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I do not think this is a great improvement.  You now conflated
"repository" to mean "project" in the latter half of the sentence,
while you are trying to explain what a "remote repository" is.

That's true.

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Your copy of git.git is not the same repository as mine; they have
different histories.  Both repositories are used to work on the same
project.  "submoules are not remotes, which are other repositories
of the same project", perhaps?

That makes sense.

Thanks.