From: Peter Harris Date: Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:47:37 GMT Subject: Re: git repack and dumb protocols Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <200906031950.56974.lists@informa.tiker.net> On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 7:50 PM, Andreas Klöckner wrote: > > 8< ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Especially useful when packing a repository that is used for private > development and there is no need to worry about people fetching via dumb > protocols from it. 8< > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > It says this relating to the '-a' option, but it makes me wonder if I'll break > copies of the repo that other people have pulled if I use 'repack'? What are > the possible interactions and things to keep in mind between repack and dumb > protocols? It won't break any copies, but it may cause excessive network use. Dumb protocols can only fetch or not-fetch the entire pack. So if someone hasn't fetched since the last push, the next time they do a "git pull", they will retrieve the entire repository. Even if they only need a single small commit. As you can imagine, people using dumb protocols over slow connections may become somewhat annoyed with the admin that often does a repack -a. You do want to repack (usually without -a -- but see also ".keep") periodically, though. Working out a schedule depends on the activity level of the repository, and is left as an exercise for the reader. > In any case, I would like to suggest that the rather ominous-sounding text in > the manpage be replaced with something more concrete, i.e. "If you repack an > archive that has people fetching via dumb protocols from it, X, Y, and Z will > happen." Patches welcome. Peter Harris