Duy Nguyen [off-list ref] writes:
The flexibility here is not about extending this feature per se but
maybe trying out an entirely different setup. Yes a bunch of safety
nets are thrown out of the window if you try it. I guess I still had
the 2005 mindset when I designed this. If there is no strong objection
to $GIT_COMMON_DIR, I suggest we keep it until we sort out the
submodule problem.
OK, let's revisit this after we finish futzing with the submodule part.