[Xcb] Are the util-common-m4 submodules relative on purpose?

[Dirk Wallenstein]

On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 12:52:49AM +0100, Arnaud Fontaine wrote:
> Hi,
> 
>     > Hi, I mean this in .gitmodules:
>     >     [submodule "m4"]
>     >         path = m4
>     >         url = ../util-common-m4.git
> 
>     > instead of:
>     >     [submodule "m4"] 
>     >         path = m4
>     >         url = git://anongit.freedesktop.org/xcb/util-common-m4 
> 
> Yes, it  is relative  on purpose.  There  are several reasons  for this,
> such as  being easier  for developers  (you may want  to write  code for
> util-common-m4 and test it in util-wm or publish your own util-common-m4
> somewhere along with util, without modifying .gitsubmodules) and you may
> not want to use git protocol.

First off, I was (a bit erratically) thinking about that, but I dropped
it because it would require users to always use a local mirror to work
out of the box.  And even then they would always have to push into the
mirror, so it is more complex after all.

.gitsubmodules just specifies the starting point for cloners.  If the
need to change and test util-common-m4 they simply redirect the remote
URL of the submodule (in m4/.git/config) to a local repo.  A relative
URL in .gitmodules does not change anything about that.
If someone wants to use a modified util-common-m4, I think it's best to
record that in a commit and in .gitmodules.

> Also, as Gaetan pointed out, if a developer wants to make a copy of util
> repository on  people.fdo, then he  will have to copy  util-common-m4 as
> well but I don't really think that's really an issue.

-- 
Cheers,
  Dirk