The attributes system may sometimes read in-tree files from the filesystem, and sometimes from the index. In the latter case, we do not resolve symbolic links (and are not likely to ever start doing so). Let's open filesystem links with O_NOFOLLOW so that the two cases behave consistently. As a bonus, this means that git will not follow such symlinks to read and parse out-of-tree paths. In some cases this could have security implications, as a malicious repository can cause Git to open and read arbitrary files. It could already feed arbitrary content to the parser, but in certain setups it might be able to exfiltrate data from those paths (e.g., if an automated service operating on the malicious repo reveals its stderr to an attacker). Note that O_NOFOLLOW only prevents following links for the path itself, not intermediate directories in the path. At first glance, it seems like ln -s /some/path in-repo might still look at "in-repo/.gitattributes", following the symlink to "/some/path/.gitattributes". However, if "in-repo" is a symbolic link, then we know that it has no git paths below it, and will never look at its .gitattributes file. We will continue to support out-of-tree symbolic links (e.g., in $GIT_DIR/info/attributes); this just affects in-tree links. When a symbolic link is encountered, the contents are ignored and a warning is printed. POSIX specifies ELOOP in this case, so the user would generally see something like: warning: unable to access '.gitattributes': Too many levels of symbolic links Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses, compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/ including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-<commandname>.txt for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
The user discussion and development of Git take place on the Git mailing list -- everyone is welcome to post bug reports, feature requests, comments and patches to git@vger.kernel.org (read Documentation/SubmittingPatches for instructions on patch submission). To subscribe to the list, send an email with just "subscribe git" in the body to majordomo@vger.kernel.org. The mailing list archives are available at https://lore.kernel.org/git/, http://marc.info/?l=git and other archival sites.
Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that list the current status of various development topics to the mailing list. The discussion following them give a good reference for project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker" and the name as (depending on your mood):
- random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
- stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the dictionary of slang.
- "global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
- "goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks