[[!comment format=mdwn
 username="joey"
 subject="""comment 4"""
 date="2019-10-08T17:32:52Z"
 content="""
Anyway, if git-annex could preserve the mtime of an unlocked file when
writing its pointer file or when populating it with content, that would
avoid the unnecessary smudging. (Which seems better than adding a delay when
updating the index file, or setting the index's mtime ahead of the current
time..)

That's easier done for pointer files than populated files, because
with annex.thin the content is a hard link and it would probably not be
good to change its mtime.

For now, I didn't do it extensively, but only in depopulatePointerFile.
That was enough to eliminate the unnecessary smudging after drop that I was
seeing.
"""]]
