[Buildroot] [RFC PATCH] download/git: ban branch references

[John Keeping <john@metanate.com>]

On Thu, 20 Jun 2019 11:27:02 -0600
Joel Carlson <JoelsonCarl@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 9:19 AM John Keeping <john@metanate.com> wrote:
> >
> > As described in the manual, using a branch name as a version is not
> > supported.  However, nothing enforces this so it is easy to specify a
> > branch name either accidentally or because new developers have not read
> > through the manual.  
> 
> At a more general discussion level, I have to admit I like having the
> ability to use a branch name even if it isn't supported. During
> development I find it easier to use a branch name and just delete the
> cached version to force it to re-download when I know I have new
> updates.  I can switch to a tag when I have a version I actually want
> tagged and "final."  Otherwise I'd have to keep tagging changes and
> updating what tag to grab in the config or package file to pull in new
> changes.
> 
> Granted, it isn't a huge inconvenience to switch how I do things, and
> I could see it being useful to "idiot-proof" for people who don't
> realize the potential problems with using branch names.  But I at
> least wanted to make my opinion known that I like it the way it is.

I'm curious what advantages you see to this method compared to
_OVERRIDE_SRCDIR.  I find pointing to an external version of the source
to be more flexible and generally faster than pulling from Git every
time.


Regards,
John