Why does fetch-pack not works over http?

[Alvaro del Castillo <acs@bitergia.com>]

Dear all,

We're wondering why "fetch-pack" (when is running from the command
line) doesn't handle "https://" protocol. It only works with "git://".

For instance, this doesn't work:

$ git fetch-pack https://github.com/git/git refs/heads/master
fatal: I don't handle protocol 'https'

while this does:

$ git fetch-pack git://github.com/git/git refs/heads/master

The funny thing is that under the hood, "fetch" calls "fetch-pack"
using "https" procotol. Example of a trace below:

12:03:07.512558 git.c:344               trace: built-in: git 'fetch-
pack' '--stateless-rpc' '--stdin' '--lock-pack' '--thin' 'https://githu
b.com/git/git/'

Cheers
-- 
Alvaro del Castillo San Félix
acs@bitergia.com - Chief Technical Officer (CTO)
http://www.bitergia.com
"Software metrics for your peace of mind"