curious about wording in "man git-config", ENVIRONMENT

  ENVIRONMENT
    GIT_CONFIG
      Take the configuration from the given file instead of
      .git/config. Using the "--global" option forces this to
      ~/.gitconfig. Using the "--system" option forces this to
      $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig.

  is the phrase "forces this to" really what you want to use here?
maybe i misunderstand what this option does, doesn't it simply mean
that it will use a different (specified) file from the default,
depending on the context (local, global, system)?

  it just seems weird to say that the option "forces" the use of what
are clearly the default files. thoughts?

rday