libgit2 shallow clone (was Re: Packaging Grafana)

[Simon Tournier]

Hi,

On dim., 15 janv. 2023 at 12:12, Csepp <raingloom@riseup.net> wrote:

> Honestly, I think our Go importer needs to be rewritten to just use Go's
> libraries instead of trying to replicate all functionality in Guile.  It
> does a lot of... let's say sub-optimal things currently, like cloning
> full git repos, when Go is smart enough to only clone what it needs for
> dependency resolution.

About cloning, the core of the issue is not Guile but libgit2.  Guix
relies on guile-git which is just libgit2.  And sadly, libgit2 does not
support shallow clone or depth fetch option.  See libgit2 issue#3058.

If I read correctly, Go relies on plain Git, instead.

Therefore, sadly we cannot do better than full Git repository clone.

It would be difficult switch from libgit2 to plain Git; as discussed in
this thread [2].


1: <https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/issues/3058>
2: <https://yhetil.org/guix/87cz9fpw4x.fsf@gmail.com>

Cheers,
simon