Git Submodules as a Package Manager

Git submodules provide precise dependency pinning, but the article shows they create outsized operational friction for IT teams: brittle repository resolution, difficult branch switching, fragile CI/CD behavior, and storage/layout conflicts with newer Git features like worktrees. For CIOs and technology leaders, the strategic implication is that submodules can increase delivery risk and maintenance overhead across engineering, build, and release processes, especially when repositories move, access changes, or teams need parallel workstreams. Organizations relying on submodules should view them as a high-governance dependency mechanism that often behaves more like an internal package manager with poor ergonomics than a simple source-control feature.