RE: [PATCH v2 1/2] Teach git version --build-options about libcurl

[Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de>]

Hi Randall,

On Mon, 24 Jun 2024, Randall Becker wrote:

> On Monday, June 24, 2024 10:13 AM, Johannes Schindelin wrote:
> >On Fri, 21 Jun 2024, Randall S. Becker wrote:
> >
> >> This change uses the libcurl LIBCURL_VERSION #define text macro. No
> >> stringification is required for the variable's use. If the #define is
> >> not present, that version is not reported.
> >>
> >> Signed-off-by: Randall S. Becker <rsbecker@nexbridge.com>
> >> ---
> >>  help.c | 4 ++++
> >>  1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)
> >>
> >> diff --git a/help.c b/help.c
> >> index 1d057aa607..bf74e935b9 100644
> >> --- a/help.c
> >> +++ b/help.c
> >> @@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
> >>  #include "git-compat-util.h"
> >> +#include "git-curl-compat.h" /* For LIBCURL_VERSION only */
> >>  #include "config.h"
> >>  #include "builtin.h"
> >>  #include "exec-cmd.h"
> >> @@ -757,6 +758,9 @@ void get_version_info(struct strbuf *buf, int
> >> show_build_options)
> >>
> >>  		if (fsmonitor_ipc__is_supported())
> >>  			strbuf_addstr(buf, "feature: fsmonitor--daemon\n");
> >> +#if defined LIBCURL_VERSION
> >> +		strbuf_addf(buf, "libcurl: %s\n", LIBCURL_VERSION);
> >
> >I am not sure that this is the most helpful information Git can provide:
> >It reports the version against which Git was _compiled_, whereas the version it is
> >_running against_ might be quite different.
> >
> >Wouldn't calling `curl_version()` make more sense here?
>
> I think the more important information is the build used.

It may be informative, but more informative would be what libcurl version
is actually used, not what was current at build time. There may
occasionally have been a mismatch between the build-time and the runtime
version that may have led to bugs, after all.

> My reasoning is that one can call run curl --version to see the current
> curl install.

That assumes quite a bit. It assumes that the libcurl that is used by the
`curl` executable is the same as the one that is used by
`git-remote-https`.

A very large chunk (by some recent internal measurement, roughly two
thirds) of the Git users use Windows, where this assumption would be
incorrect.

Ciao,
Johannes