Re: Are binary xdeltas only used if you use git-gc?

"Thanassis Tsiodras" <ttsiodras@gmail.com> writes:

If you have a decent version of git, it already does "git gc --auto" regularly. With --auto, git gc will do nothing if you don't have too many unpacked objects, and will try to do the right thing otherwise (incremental packs, see man git gc). The idea is that "git gc" is a costly operation, and git prefers to waste a bit of disk space to make most "commit" really fast, and to take time to optimize the repository only when it grew too much.

If you're worried about repository size and you have a permanently running machine, a good idea is to run git gc in a cron job, so that you work fast in daytime, and your computer optimizes hard at night time ;-) (I have gic gc + git fsck in a cron job, so I'll also know if a repository gets corrupted).