Traversing symlinks

[Matt Mackall]

On Mon, 2011-05-16 at 19:57 +0200, Martin Geisler wrote:
> Hi guys,
> 
> Way back in 2007, this changeset was added:
> 
>   http://selenic.com/hg/rev/d316124ebbea
> 
> It makes Mercurial abort when it encounters a symlink on the way to a
> file -- even when the symlink points inside the repository:
> 
>   $ ln -s contrib extra
>   $ hg status extra/mq.el
>   abort: path 'extra/mq.el' traverses symbolic link 'extra'
> 
> This seems a tad too restrictive to me,

Ok, do tell, what have you lost by not being able to ask for the status
of a path you can't commit?

>  and Bryan did also flag this in
> the test and commit message.
> 
> Would anybody object to me lifting this restriction?

Yes.

Most developers have only the vaguest idea of what the security
implications of symlinks are, and simply saying "this seems a tad too
restrictive" does not instill confidence that you've spent the time to
become an expert on this obscure and complicated subject.

-- 
Mathematics is the supreme nostalgia of our time.