Heiko Voigt [off-list ref] writes:
This "default" value thing got me thinking in a different direction. We
could use a scheme like that to get names (and values) for submodules
that are missing from the .gitmodules file. If we decide that we need to
handle them.
Yes, I suspect that would improve things quite a bit in a repository
where it added a new submodule by filling the gap between the time
when a gitlink is added and an entry in .gitmodules is added. The
latter needs to happen if the result of the work done in that
repository is pushed out elsewhere---otherwise it won't usable by
other people.