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Re: [PATCH] doc: add a explanation of Git's data model

From
KHKristoffer Haugsbakk <kristofferhaugsbakk@fastmail.com>
Date
Oct 8, 2025, 09:59 UTC
Message-ID
<b0220dca-d324-49c8-af80-7b19f3b70691@app.fastmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<51e0a55c-1f1d-4cae-9459-8c2b9220e52d@app.fastmail.com>
On Mon, Oct 6, 2025, at 21:36, Julia Evans wrote:
Show 26 quoted lines
>[snip]
>>> +blobs::
>>> +    A blob is how Git represents a file. A blob object contains the
>>> +    file's contents.
>>> ++
>>> +Storing a new blob for every new version of a file can get big, so
>>> +`git gc` periodically compresses objects for efficiency in
>>> `.git/objects/pack`.
>>
>> This gets into mentioning implementation files(?) like you mentioned in
>> the commit message.
>
> That's true! The reason I think this is important to mention is that I find
> that people often "reject" information that they find implausible, even
> if it comes from a credible source. ("that can't be true! I must be
> not understanding correctly. Oh well, I'll just ignore that!")
>
> I sometimes hear from users that "commits can't be snapshots", because
> it would take up too much disk space to store every version of
> every commit. So I find that sometimes explaining a little bit about the
> implementation can make the information more memorable.
>
> Certainly I'm not able to remember details that don't make sense
> with my mental model of how computers work and I don't expect other
> people to either, so I think it's important to give an explanation that
> handles the biggest "objections".

That’s very intresting. Yes, maybe people need to be told/taught to a level which might be considered “just implementation details” or else both neither their curiosity won’t be satisfied *nor* will their own sense of error-correction for the seemingly implausible.

Show 9 quoted lines
>[snip]
>> I appreciate that this is the first version and you might have plans
>> after this one. But I wonder if this doc could use a fair number of
>> `gitlink` to branch out to all the other parts. Like git-reflog(1),
>> gitglossary(7).
>
> That's reasonable. Do you often use the "See also" section of
> man pages? I've never looked at them so I'm always curious about
> how people are actually using them in practice.

I don’t really use See Also when looking things up. But I notice all the mentions of other docs in running text.

>[snip]
Previous: Julia EvansNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 8 of 89 in “doc: add a explanation of Git's data model”
  1. doc: add a explanation of Git's data modelJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 3, 2025
  2. Kristoffer HaugsbakkOct 3, 2025
  3. Julia EvansOct 6, 2025
  4. D. Ben KnobleOct 6, 2025
  5. Julia EvansOct 6, 2025
  6. D. Ben KnobleOct 6, 2025
  7. Julia EvansOct 9, 2025
  8. Kristoffer HaugsbakkOct 8, 2025
  9. Junio C HamanoOct 6, 2025
  10. Julia EvansOct 6, 2025
  11. Kristoffer HaugsbakkOct 7, 2025
  12. Junio C HamanoOct 7, 2025
  13. Patrick SteinhardtOct 7, 2025
  14. Junio C HamanoOct 7, 2025
  15. Julia EvansOct 7, 2025
  16. Junio C HamanoOct 7, 2025
  17. D. Ben KnobleOct 7, 2025
  18. Julia EvansOct 7, 2025
  19. Patrick SteinhardtOct 8, 2025
  20. Junio C HamanoOct 8, 2025
  21. Julia EvansOct 8, 2025
  22. doc: add a explanation of Git's data modelJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 8, 2025
  23. Patrick SteinhardtOct 10, 2025
  24. Junio C HamanoOct 13, 2025
  25. Patrick SteinhardtOct 14, 2025
  26. Julia EvansOct 14, 2025
  27. Patrick SteinhardtOct 14, 2025
  28. Junio C HamanoOct 14, 2025
  29. doc: add a explanation of Git's data modelJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 14, 2025
  30. Patrick SteinhardtOct 15, 2025
  31. Junio C HamanoOct 15, 2025
  32. Julia EvansOct 15, 2025
  33. Junio C HamanoOct 15, 2025
  34. Julia EvansOct 16, 2025
  35. Junio C HamanoOct 15, 2025
  36. Julia EvansOct 16, 2025
  37. Junio C HamanoOct 16, 2025
  38. Julia EvansOct 16, 2025
  39. Junio C HamanoOct 16, 2025
  40. Kristoffer HaugsbakkOct 16, 2025
  41. Kristoffer HaugsbakkOct 20, 2025
  42. Junio C HamanoOct 20, 2025
  43. doc: add an explanation of Git's data modelJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 27, 2025
  44. Junio C HamanoOct 27, 2025
  45. Julia EvansOct 28, 2025
  46. Junio C HamanoOct 28, 2025
  47. doc: add an explanation of Git's data modelJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 30, 2025
  48. Junio C HamanoOct 31, 2025
  49. Patrick SteinhardtNov 3, 2025
  50. Junio C HamanoNov 3, 2025
  51. Julia EvansNov 3, 2025
  52. Junio C HamanoNov 4, 2025
  53. Julia EvansNov 4, 2025
  54. Junio C HamanoNov 4, 2025
  55. Julia EvansNov 4, 2025
  56. Junio C HamanoNov 4, 2025
  57. Julia EvansNov 5, 2025
  58. Ben KnobleNov 5, 2025
  59. Julia EvansNov 5, 2025
  60. Ben KnobleNov 6, 2025
  61. Junio C HamanoOct 31, 2025
  62. Patrick SteinhardtNov 3, 2025
  63. Julia EvansNov 3, 2025
  64. doc: add an explanation of Git's data modelJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Nov 7, 2025
  65. Junio C HamanoNov 7, 2025
  66. Junio C HamanoNov 7, 2025
  67. Julia EvansNov 7, 2025
  68. Junio C HamanoNov 7, 2025
  69. Junio C HamanoNov 8, 2025
  70. Ben KnobleNov 9, 2025
  71. Junio C HamanoNov 9, 2025
  72. Julia EvansNov 10, 2025
  73. Junio C HamanoNov 11, 2025
  74. Ben KnobleNov 11, 2025
  75. Julia EvansNov 11, 2025
  76. Junio C HamanoNov 12, 2025
  77. Junio C HamanoNov 12, 2025
  78. Julia EvansNov 13, 2025
  79. Junio C HamanoNov 13, 2025
  80. Julia EvansNov 13, 2025
  81. Chris TorekNov 13, 2025
  82. Junio C HamanoNov 13, 2025
  83. doc: add an explanation of Git's data modelJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Nov 12, 2025
  84. Junio C HamanoNov 12, 2025
  85. Junio C HamanoNov 23, 2025
  86. Patrick SteinhardtDec 1, 2025
  87. Junio C HamanoDec 2, 2025
  88. Julia EvansOct 9, 2025
  89. Ben KnobleOct 10, 2025

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