Re: the opposite of .gitignore, whitelist

From: Jason Cooper <jason@lakedaemon.net>
Date: Oct 25, 2018, 14:38 UTC
Message-ID: <c166b421-a228-8349-0815-2ebb9dcab998@lakedaemon.net>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqh8hak2mh.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com>

Hi all,

On 10/25/18 1:37 AM, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 5 quoted lines

> "lhf635@163.com" <lhf635@163.com> writes:
>
>> I have a good idea, add a file to git that is the opposite of .gitignore...,
> Do negative patterns in .gitignore file help without inventing
> anything new?

I did this several years ago in an attempt to track /etc/ (minus ownership, of course) without storing secrets in the git history. As the system grew and was maintained (read: crap added), the negative patterns grew untenable. I quickly realized it wasn't the correct way to solve the problem.

Unfortunately, shortly after realizing this, I left that project. So I never had the chance to develop a proper solution. However, the concept of a '.gitonly' file was exactly was I was seeking. So, for what it's worth, I've definitely had at least one legit usecase for this feature.

The usecases tend to center around tracking select files within the rootfs of a full-blown operating system. Or a subset thereof.

hth,

Jason.