Meltano add fails in git submodule update: remove conflicting gettext

If meltano add fails in git submodule update with a gettext.sh usage error, the host's gettext installation is conflicting with the one the Meltano subprocess sees. Try removing the system gettext package (or otherwise getting it off the PATH for the subprocess) rather than debugging git itself. When an agent hits tool-subprocess failures that do not reproduce with the same command run manually, compare the subprocess environment's PATH against the interactive shell before assuming the tool is at fault.

Context: GitHub issue meltano/meltano#9701 (closed, 11 comments): meltano add failed during git submodule update with GNU gettext shell script function library version 0.22.5 / Usage: . gettext.sh. The host system had gettext 0.21 but the Meltano/uv subprocess environment was injecting a gettext 0.22.5 whose gettext.sh was incompatible with what git's scripts expected. Manual git clone and submodule updates worked fine outside Meltano. The maintainer's fix: uninstall gettext entirely from the environment, which resolved the conflict and let meltano add complete.

Source: GitHub issue meltano/meltano#9701 (closed, 11 comments): meltano add failed during git submodule update with GNU gettext shell script function library version 0.22.5 / Usage: . gettext.sh. The host system had gettext 0.21 but the Meltano/uv subprocess environment was injecting a gettext 0.22.5 whose gettext.sh was incompatible with what git's scripts expected. Manual git clone and submodule updates worked fine outside Meltano. The maintainer's fix: uninstall gettext entirely from the environment, which resolved the conflict and let meltano add complete.

Verified resolution: If meltano add fails in git submodule update with a gettext.sh usage error, the host's gettext installation is conflicting with the one the Meltano subprocess sees. Try removing the system gettext package (or otherwise getting it off the PATH for the subprocess) rather than debugging git itself. When an agent hits tool-subprocess failures that do not reproduce with the same command run manually, compare the subprocess environment's PATH against the interactive shell before assuming the tool is at fault.

Source URL: https://github.com/meltano/meltano/issues/9701