Re: [PATCH] Make ident dynamic, not just a hardcoded value of "$Id".

"Maksym Sobolyev via GitGitGadget" [off-list ref] writes:

From: Maksym Sobolyev <redacted>

This allows ident to be something like $FreeBSD$ so it provides matching
functionality for repos migrated from CVS / SVN.

This works by allowing ident to have a parameter, i.e.:

* ident=MyCustomId

In .gitattributes.

I would have expected that, just like cvs uses its configuration
mechanism for LocalKeyword, this would belong to the .git/config
file.

The attribute mechanism is inherently for stuff that you would want
to specify per-path, so the "do we do keyword expansion for this
file (yes/no)?" is a good match to be an attribute, and that
question is what the original 'ident' attribute asks.

I do not think "what keyword do we want to expand as if it were
$Id$?" is a question we want to be giving different answers per
path, and it does not smell like a good match to be an attribute.

By allowing a potentially separate values for

    *.txt ident=FreeBSD
    *.cc  ident=OpenBSD

this gives long rope to create a mess to the users.

I also think that the ident expansion is overrated, and have a
feeling that we should discourage its use, not encourage it, but
that is a separate story.

Thanks.