Re: [PATCH 3/3] t3600: test rm of path with changed leading symlinks

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

Jeff King <peff@peff.net> writes:

> Here's a replacement for patch 3, then. I wasn't sure if the
> editorializing in the last 2 paragraphs should go in the commit message
> or the cover letter; feel free to tweak as you see fit.

They look fine as they are.

> That means the worst case is not the accidental loss of content,
> but rather confusion by the user when a copy of a file another
> part of the tree is removed.

A copy of a file that is on the filesystem that may not be related
to the project at all may be lost, and the user may not notice the
lossage for quite a while.  A symlink that points at /etc/passwd may
cause the file to be removed and the user will hopefully notice, but
if the pointed-at file is something in $HOME/tmp/ that you occasionally
use, you may not notice the lossage immediately, and when you notice
the loss, the only assurance you have is that there is a blob that
records what was lost _somewhere_ in _some_ of your project that had
a symlink that points at $HOME/tmp/ at some point in the past.

"Exists somewhere, not lost" is not a very useful assurance, if you
ask me ;-)