Re: git "thin" submodule clone to feed "describe"

Martin Langhoff [off-list ref] writes:

Hi git list! long time no see! :-) Been missing you lots.

Do we currently have any means to clone _history_ but not _blobs_ of a
repo, or some approximation thereof?

With a bit more context: If I have a top-level project using a couple
dozen submodules, where the submodules are huge, do I have a
git-native means of running git-describe on each submodule without
pulling the whole thing down?

No, I do not think so.