Re: [RFC] Submodules in GIT

hoi :)

On Fri, Dec 01, 2006 at 08:49:20AM -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:

Think of it this way: one common use for submodules is really to just 
(occasionally) track somebody elses code. The submodule should be a 
totally pristine copy from somebody else (ie it might be the "intel driver 
for X.org" submodule, maintained within intel), and the supermodule just 
refers to it indirectly (ie the supermodule might be the "Fedora Core X 
group" which contains all the different drivers from different people).

Yes, but it is not only about tracking, also about distributing
submodules.

One Fedora X developer fixes a bug in the intel driver, commits that to
the submodule and then updates the supermodule to the new version (by
calling "git-update-index drivers/intel && git-commit" or something).  Then
another Feora X developer updates his X repository.  By pulling the
supermodule he also gets a new version of the submodule.
And this new version of the submodule is stored in a branch which can be
accessed by the submodule.

A supermodule can never "contain changes" to a submodule.

The supermodule always contains _the_entire_ submodule with its complete
history, so it also does contain changes.  But it does not per-se
contain changes, only indirectly (i.e. the commits in the submodule are
not part of the supermodule commit chain).

A supermodule would always just point to the submodule, and not have
any changes what-so-ever of its own. The submodule is self-sufficient,
and always contains all its _own_ changes.

Yes.

-- 
Martin Waitz