Re: [PATCH 0/9] sparse-checkout: make cone mode the default

[Derrick Stolee <derrickstolee@github.com>]

On 3/8/2022 2:39 AM, Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget wrote:
> == Maintainer Note ==
> 
> Depends on a merge of en/present-despite-skipped into master.
> 
> == Overview ==
> 
> This patch changes the default mode for sparse-checkout from non-cone mode
> to cone-mode, and marks non-cone mode as deprecated. There is no plan to
> remove non-cone mode, we are merely recommending against its use.
> 
> The code change is pretty small, and most of this series is about
> documentation updates -- to focus on directories rather than patterns, to
> explain the new default, to explain why we are deprecating non-cone mode
> (the final patch), and to make other related cleanups to simplify the
> manual.

I made a couple comments with potential ways to improve the series, but
in general this series is high quality without any changes. I'm happy
with it as-is.

I'm particularly happy with the additional examples of how to use the
sparse-checkout builtin. That should really improve discoverability.

> == Alternative ==
> 
> There is one primary alternative to this series: make sparse-checkout error
> when neither --cone nor --no-cone are specified (so that there is no
> default), and wait until a future date to make --cone the default.

I appreciate considering this alternative, and I'd be open to it, if
needed. My gut feeling is that we don't need it.

Thanks,
-Stolee