Re: I don't want the .git directory next to my code.

>> Yes, so you can use
>> 
>> $ git --work-tree . --git-dir /some/other/place <some-command>
>> 
>> But it's far from the user-friendlyness of a real lightweight checkout: 
>> you need to provide the --work-tree and --git-dir options each time you 
>> run git. And making an alias or using the environment variables are not 
>> really an option if you have more than one repository or working tree to 
>> deal with.
>
> Well, the OP said he did not want _any_ file in the worktree.  So there's 
> no way around specifying by hand everytime where the git directory should 
> be.