From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on dcvr.yhbt.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-ASN: AS31976 209.132.180.0/23 X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.4 required=3.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_HI,T_RP_MATCHES_RCVD shortcircuit=no autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.0 Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [209.132.180.67]) by dcvr.yhbt.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8CB531F404 for ; Tue, 20 Feb 2018 21:16:39 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1751363AbeBTVQh (ORCPT ); Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:16:37 -0500 Received: from cloud.peff.net ([104.130.231.41]:58678 "HELO cloud.peff.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id S1750799AbeBTVQg (ORCPT ); Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:16:36 -0500 Received: (qmail 9825 invoked by uid 109); 20 Feb 2018 21:16:36 -0000 Received: from Unknown (HELO peff.net) (10.0.1.2) by cloud.peff.net (qpsmtpd/0.94) with SMTP; Tue, 20 Feb 2018 21:16:36 +0000 Authentication-Results: cloud.peff.net; auth=none Received: (qmail 17126 invoked by uid 111); 20 Feb 2018 21:17:23 -0000 Received: from sigill.intra.peff.net (HELO sigill.intra.peff.net) (10.0.0.7) by peff.net (qpsmtpd/0.94) with (ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 encrypted) SMTP; Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:17:23 -0500 Authentication-Results: peff.net; auth=none Received: by sigill.intra.peff.net (sSMTP sendmail emulation); Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:16:34 -0500 Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:16:34 -0500 From: Jeff King To: Peter Backes Cc: git@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Git should preserve modification times at least on request Message-ID: <20180220211634.GA15232@sigill.intra.peff.net> References: <20180219212235.GA9891@helen.PLASMA.Xg8.DE> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20180219212235.GA9891@helen.PLASMA.Xg8.DE> Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org On Mon, Feb 19, 2018 at 10:22:36PM +0100, Peter Backes wrote: > please ensure to CC me if you reply as I am not subscribed to the list. > > https://git.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Git_FAQ#Why_isn.27t_Git_preserving_modification_time_on_files.3F > argues that git isn't preserving modification times because it needs to > ensure that build tools work properly. I think there are some references buried somewhere in that wiki, but did you look at any of the third-party tools that store file metadata alongside the files in the repository? E.g.: https://etckeeper.branchable.com/ or https://github.com/przemoc/metastore I didn't see either of those mentioned in this thread (though I also do not have personal experience with them, either). Modification times are a subset of the total metadata you might care about, so they are solving a much more general problem. Which may also partially answer your question about why this isn't built into git. The general problem gets much bigger when you start wanting to carry things like modes (which git doesn't actually track; we really only care about the executable bit) or extended attributes (acls, etc). -Peff