git-config: replaces ~/.gitconfig symlink with real file

Since the number of dot-files and dot-directories that I have in my home directory these days is somewhat overwhelming, I like to keep those I directly edit all together in an ~/etc directory so I can easily back them up and/or copy them in bulk to new accounts. So, several of my home dot-files are just symlinks to something in ~/etc, including ~/.gitconfig.

However, when I tried running 'git-config --global color.diff auto' today, it removed my symlink and replaced it with a real file. This left me briefly a bit confused when the changes I had made didn't show up in ~/etc/gitconfig, but git-config reported them anyway.

If I were to fix this, I'd be tempted to use realpath(3) to follow the symlink, but I don't think it's very reliably available cross-platform. Certainly, it isn't used anywhere in the current git code. Can anyone suggest a more portable fix?

Thanks,

Bradford