Re: [PATCH 2/3] sha1_name: get_sha1_with_context learns to follow symlinks

["Philip Oakley" <philipoakley@iee.org>]

From: "Junio C Hamano" <gitster@pobox.com>
> On Fri, May 8, 2015 at 12:45 PM, Eric Sunshine 
> <sunshine@sunshineco.com> wrote:
>>> +       if (flags & GET_SHA1_FOLLOW_SYMLINKS && flags & 
>>> GET_SHA1_ONLY_TO_DIE)
>>> +               die(_("internal error: bad flags for 
>>> get_sha1_with_context"));
>>
>> There may not be much value in marking an "internal error" string for
>> translation.
>
> The whole point of this kind of messages is so that the end users,
> when they see it trigger, can notify us and then to allow us to
> identify which die() triggered.  It is not just "may not be much
> value in", but is actively unproductive to make it translatable,
> even if we ignore the cost to i18n/l10n teams to translate such
> messages.
>
> By the way, we would want to standardise the string before the
> colon, so that we can tell users "If you see an error message that
> begins with 'internal error:', please report that to us---it is a
> programming error".  I think the majority of existing code uses the
> string "BUG:" for that, and I do not mind using 'internal error:'
> for that purpose instead, but the important thing is to use just one
> single string thoughout the codebase, so that the "please report
> when you see this" message we give the users can be simple.
>
I would see "BUG:" as being internationally recognised, while "internal 
error:" would need to be translated, and perhaps be written "internal 
error, report this to git@vger.kernel.org:" to ensure that the reader 
knows immediately what to do.
--
Philip