This is also the only use-case I have for git sub-modules. However, I haven’t encountered any serious problems. I mostly leave my (few) Vim plugins alone for so

This is also the only use-case I have for git sub-modules. However, I haven’t encountered any serious problems. I mostly leave my (few) Vim plugins alone for so long that I forget the git commands to update the plugins when I do decide to update them. Having to check my notes or the relevant section of the Git Book is the worst of the friction. I’m using Pathogen as it works fine for me. I believe Vim 8.0 introduced something similar but I still have to use older Vim releases on various CentOS 6 and 7 systems.