Should autocrlf=false when cloning repositories?

[simendsjo]

What's wrong

I found out this when using the sly package on Windows for the first time. It has a multi-line format, which broke because autocrlf=true, which is the recommended default on Windows. But (newer) Windows supports only LF too, and when we're not cloning a repo in order to work with cross OS repos, a better default might be autocrlf=false, i.e. as the repo author intended.

This can be done on the clone command by saying --config autocrlf=false, which sets autocrlf=false in .git/config in the cloned repository.

Directions to reproduce

Clone sly on Windows using autocrlf=true and run M-x sly.

Version information

• Emacs version: 28.2
• Operating system: Windows 11

[progfolio]

a better default might be autocrlf=false, i.e. as the repo author intended.

Could this be solved via a repo-specific .gitattributes file rather than hard coding a setting into the clone command?

[simendsjo]

Could this be solved via a repo-specific .gitattributes file rather than hard coding a setting into the clone command?

.gitattributes overrides user, system and global settings? Maybe a better solution then. Hard to tell 🤷 I really hate autocrlf, but it's a necessary evil on Windows unfortunately. Been years since I tried autocrlf=false on Windows, so maybe I should try again.

I see the following threads have advocates for both sides: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2825428/why-should-i-use-core-autocrlf-true-in-git#2825829

Why oh why does Windows have to work so different from all other operating systems..? :(

[raxod502]

So currently we don't set any special autocrlf settings in straight.el, because the idea is that probably you want the same settings to be used for straight.el as when you are otherwise cloning repos. Don't you run into similar issues elsewhere on your system if the autocrlf setting is not applied properly?

Generally speaking, I think if git clone fails due to configuration, it is out of scope for straight.el to try and patch the issue.