Re: [boost] Executable files in Boost git repostories

Subject: Re: [boost] Executable files in Boost git repostories
From: Gavin Lambert (boost_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-12-04 00:31:37

On 4/12/2018 13:24, Edward Diener wrote:
> We have again run into the situation where files with a Linux executable 
> permission have been committed to various Boost git repositories, with 
> Jim King creating a PR and list of these files in Boost Admin. I have 
> fixed these for the repositories for which I have write access, and 
> created PRs for the other repositories. But this begs the question as to 
> what Boost's stance should be about adding actual executable files to a 
> Boost git repository ? As an example a Linux bash command file was added 
> to a particular repository and I created a PR to remove the executable 
> file permission from the file. But the maintainer of the repository 
> feels this is wrong and the Linux bash file should retain the executable 
> file permissions and that the file should be part of the repository. But 
> of course I am more interested here about the general principal of the 
> matter. Obviously operating system command/batch files are executable 
> files, but should they be so in a repository.

Files which are not actually executable scripts should not have that bit 
set, of course.

Files which are executable scripts generally should have the bit set, 
even in the repository.

However then the question becomes: are these scripts only for the 
maintainer's use (in which case perhaps they shouldn't be in the 
repository?) or are they intended for user use (in which case what 
happens on platforms that cannot run the script?)

So for portability reasons, in my opinion, it's probably better to get 
b2 to do things rather than writing custom scripts that don't work on 
all platforms.