git-rclone

#!/bin/bash -e
## Recursive clone
## clone into $2 directory
## and attach heads.

## read input, display help if necessary
if [[ "$@" == "" || "$@" == *--help* ]]; then
    cat<<EOF
 Recursive clone

 This command executes a recursive clone, i.e., the repository
 is cloned as well as all submodules. The submodules HEADs are
 attached, if possible. See also "git clone --help".

 Usage:
    git rclone <repository> [<directory>]
EOF
    exit 0;
fi

if [[ "$2" ]]; then
    name="$2"
else
    name=`basename "$1"`
    name=${name%.git}
fi

## from the git mailinglist:
function git
{
    LC_MESSAGES=C command git "$@"
} 
export git

echo "Cloning into $name..."
git clone --recursive -q "$1" "$name" > /dev/null
echo "done."
cd "$name"
## attach heads
if [ -f .gitmodules ]; then
    echo "Attaching heads of submodules..."
    #git submodule --quiet foreach --recursive git attach-head -w
    git submodule --quiet foreach --recursive 'echo "$toplevel/$path"' | 
    xargs -r -n1 -P5 bash -c 'cd "$1"; git attach-head -w' xargs
    echo "done."
fi