Re: .gitignore is not enough

From: Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org>
Date: Aug 3, 2023, 17:17 UTC
Message-ID: <c2fea20d-af37-8721-5bd8-14bbc3daf937@kdbg.org>
In-Reply-To: <CAE1pOi1Zt8i_rVi6dCGVsshhPxa_kV7qQ7SMu6R4nsSiadq7xw@mail.gmail.com>

Am 03.08.23 um 07:35 schrieb Hilco Wijbenga:

> I think you might be looking for "git update-index --assume-unchanged
> <file>"? See https://www.git-scm.com/docs/git-update-index for more
> details.

Sorry to tell you that this is a myth that lives on because it is repeated over and over again.

> This allows you to tell Git to ignore the changes you made to that
> (tracked) file.

No. --assume-unchanged allows you to make the *promise* to Git that you will not change the file, and consequently Git does not have to check whether the file was changed. If you break the promise (because you change it), you will get what you deserve. For example, you may find that Git overwrites your changes, or commits them nevertheless.

Perhaps a better choice is --skip-worktree, but recent answers on Stackoverflow point out that even that is not a suitable solution for "please, Git, ignore these changes".

-- Hannes