git-svnimport usage with different SVN repo layouts

git-svnimport doesn't seem to like the repos I point it to -- there is something I must be missing when crafting the import invocation.

I am not a subversion user -- so I'm surely missing a lot of subtlety WRT to the 'each tag is a directory, each branch is a directory' philosophy. In any case, the repos I'm trying to use seem simple (though may be broken).

(And, btw, what are the -T and -t parameters? The documentation and the usage message contradict each other.)

Example:

  # this gives me a small repo with 40 commits
  svn co svn://elgg.net/devel

  # but I could not get any of this to go
  git-svnimport svn://elgg.net/devel

  # I seem to be having /some/ luck with
  git-svnimport -T devel -t releases svn://elgg.net/devel

... at least history shows through. But I am not seeing any files. Gah. Also tried, without success

  git-svnimport -T devel -t releases -b branches svn://elgg.net/devel

and -b branch too.

Another nut I haven't been able to crack has been http://svn.berlios.de/svnroot/repos/serendipity/

puzzled,

martin