git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

Re: Seriously broken "git pack-refs"

From
Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
Date
Jan 26, 2007, 06:50 UTC
Message-ID
<7vac062set.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.cox.net>
In-Reply-To
<Pine.LNX.4.64.0701252218540.25027@woody.linux-foundation.org>
Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> writes:
Show 6 quoted lines
> Tags automatically fall under that heading (which is why it makes sense to 
> pack them by default in the first place!) but so does any ref that was 
> already packed, and hadn't become unpacked since the last repack. By 
> definition, such a ref isn't "actively changing" even if it isn't a tag.
>
> No?
Yes.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt b/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt
index 464269f..b79b79d 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-pack-refs.txt
@@ -34,11 +34,16 @@ OPTIONS
 
 \--all::
 
-The command by default packs all tags and leaves branch tips
+The command by default packs all tags and refs that are already
+packed, and leaves other refs
 alone.  This is because branches are expected to be actively
 developed and packing their tips does not help performance.
 This option causes branch tips to be packed as well.  Useful for
 a repository with many branches of historical interests.
+Once packing with `\--all` is done, further repacking with the
+default will keep the already packed refs (including branch
+heads) packed, while still actively developed branch heads will
+not be packed (because they become unpacked once modified).
 
 \--no-prune::
 
Previous: Linus Torvalds
Message 6 of 6 in “Seriously broken "git pack-refs"”
  1. Linus TorvaldsJan 26, 2007
  2. Junio C HamanoJan 26, 2007
  3. Linus TorvaldsJan 26, 2007
  4. Junio C HamanoJan 26, 2007
  5. Linus TorvaldsJan 26, 2007
  6. Junio C HamanoJan 26, 2007

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.