Bug#959506: git-annex: `git annex add` sometimes treats non-dotfiles in dotdirs as dotfiles

[Marco Ricci]

Package: git-annex
Version: 8.20200330-1
Severity: normal

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Dear Maintainer,

I use git to keep $HOME in version control, and git-annex to version
sensitive files whose contents I do not want kept in git, e.g. `.netrc`. My
repository thus contains several dotfiles and "dotdirs". The rules for which
files are sensitive and which aren't aren't easily described as a simple
matching expression, so I leave `annex.largefiles` unset. I expect to be
able to specifically use `git add` to add files to git, and `git annex add`
to add files to the annex.

After upgrading the repository format to v8, `git annex add` sometimes
treats ordinary files stored in a dotdir the same as it treats dotfiles –
adding them to native git and saying they are non-large files, even when
`annex.largefiles` is not configured. I am aware that dotfiles are forced to
git by default unless I set `annex.dotfiles`, but I do not expect this to
happen with non-dotfiles, even if they are located within dotdirs.

Sample transcript:

    $ cd `mktemp -d -t`
    $ git init .
    Initialized empty Git repository in /tmp/tmp.Meciv7SAMH/.git/
    $ git annex init
    init  (scanning for unlocked files...)
    ok
    (recording state in git...)
    $ git config --unset annex.largefiles
    $ git config --unset annex.dotfiles
    $ git config -l | grep -F annex
    annex.backends=SHA256E
    annex.uuid=0b024138-de95-426f-905a-97f2f5e84cb5
    annex.version=8
    filter.annex.smudge=git-annex smudge -- %f
    filter.annex.clean=git-annex smudge --clean -- %f
    $ mkdir .foo
    $ echo a > .foo/bar
    $ echo b > .foo/baz
    $ echo c > .foo/quux
    $ git annex add .foo/bar
    add .foo/bar (non-large file; adding content to git repository) ok
    (recording state in git...)
    $ git config annex.dotfiles true
    $ git annex add .foo/baz
    add .foo/baz
    ok
    (recording state in git...)
    $ git config annex.dotfiles false
    $ cd .foo
    $ git annex add quux
    add quux
    ok
    (recording state in git...)

In this transcript, I would have expected the call `git annex add .foo/bar`
to also add the file to the annex, not to git, irrespective of whether I had
`annex.dotfiles` set or not. (Confusingly, the diagnostic message talks
about large and non-large files, which initially had me think that
`annex.largefiles` had been set to some default value somewhere.) The call
`git annex add .foo/baz` however shows that git-annex does depend on
`annex.dotfiles` here, unlike in the `cd .foo && git annex add quux` case
(as it should, in the latter).

To me, this looks like git-annex erroneously classifies dotfiles as all
paths which begin with a dot, irrespective of whether they contain directory
separators or not.

Regards,
Marco


- -- System Information:
Debian Release: bullseye/sid
  APT prefers stable-updates
  APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'oldstable-updates'), (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable'), (500, 'oldstable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 5.6.0-1-amd64 (SMP w/4 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: sysvinit (via /sbin/init)

Versions of packages git-annex depends on:
ii  curl            7.68.0-1
ii  git             1:2.26.2-1
ii  libc6           2.30-4
ii  libffi7         3.3-4
ii  libgmp10        2:6.2.0+dfsg-4
ii  libmagic1       1:5.38-4
ii  libsqlite3-0    3.31.1-5
ii  netbase         6.1
ii  openssh-client  1:8.2p1-4
ii  rsync           3.1.3-8
ii  zlib1g          1:1.2.11.dfsg-2

Versions of packages git-annex recommends:
pn  aria2              <none>
ii  bind9-host         1:9.16.2-3
pn  git-remote-gcrypt  <none>
ii  gnupg              2.2.20-1
ii  lsof               4.93.2+dfsg-1
pn  nocache            <none>

Versions of packages git-annex suggests:
pn  adb             <none>
pn  bup             <none>
pn  libnss-mdns     <none>
pn  magic-wormhole  <none>
pn  tahoe-lafs      <none>
pn  tor             <none>
pn  uftp            <none>
pn  xdot            <none>
pn  youtube-dl      <none>

- -- no debconf information

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