Re: [PATCH] Allow to control the namespace for replace refs

Mike Hommey [off-list ref] writes:

On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 08:16:02AM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:

quoted

Mike Hommey [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

I do agree that this is all confusing, but allow me to point out that
it's already plenty confusing: "namespace" is a term that has been used to
designate a generic kind of namespace *and* refs/namespaces. See for
example:

https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/git-describe.txt#L39
https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/git-fetch.txt#L113
https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/Documentation/git-filter-branch.txt#L36
(note how this one is specifically about refs/replace/)
there are many more.

"One more breakage does not hurt" is not something we want to see.

I won't disagree here, but we are in desperate need for a word for those
namespaces that aren't refs/namespaces, and stick to it (independently
of the replace patch), but I've never seen one.

I actually don't agree with you ;-)

All these examples you cited above are merely talking about
hierarchy and they do not have any desperate need for a new word.

They do not even need a technical term; they needed a way of saying
"subdirectory" without limiting their reference to loose refs.  If
there weren't packed-refs, they would have said ".git/refs/heads and
its subdirectories" and that would have been perfectly fine.

The "ref namespace" I mentioned in my first response is the only
special one, I would think, so if we reword everybody else to say
hierarchy instead of namespace, we are perfectly fine, I think.