[ERROR] fatal: cannot exec 'fetch-pack': Argument list too long

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I have struck upon a workaround. The error you are experiencing occurs because of the way that Git handles smart HTTP (read http://code.google.com/r/renyanemma-gitcore/source/detail?r=078b895fefdca94995862a4cc8644198b00a89bf for a good explanation).

This issue exists only when Git uses Smart HTTP, which is the default choice that rosinstall_generator makes for you when it generates a .rosinstall file. By changing:

uri: <a href="https://github.com/ros-gbp/ros_comm-release.git%60">https://github.com/ros-gbp/ros_comm-release.git

                                        to

uri: git@github.com:ros-gbp/ros_comm-release.git

for each affected item in your .rosinstall file, Git will use SSH to clone the source repositories instead, which apparently does not create problems for your terminal's argument buffer.

Simply replace-all https://github.com/ to git@github.com: in your favorite text editor (sed included), and you should be all set.