Re: is there a truly compelling rationale for .git/info/exclude?

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Oct 6, 2017, 12:13 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqmv54v5h6.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com>
In-Reply-To: <20171006061434.Horde.16MqZ-fejqXm6BLpL7prK1K@crashcourse.ca>

rpjday@crashcourse.ca writes:

Show 5 quoted lines

>   at the other end, users are certainly welcome to add extra patterns
> to be ignored, based purely on the way they work -- perhaps based on
> their choice of editor, they might want to exclude *.swp files, or
> if working on a Mac, ignore .DS_Store, and so on, using a
> core.excludesFile setting.

This is primarily why .git/info/exclude exists. A user who does not use the same set of tools to work on different projects may not be able to use ~/.gitconfig with core.excludesFile pointing at a single place that applies to _all_ repositories the user touches.

Also, core.excludesFile came a lot later than in-project and in-repository exclude list, IIRC.

Don't waste time by seeking a "compelling" reason. A mere "this is the most expedite way to gain convenience" back when something was introduced could be an answer, and it is way too late to complain about such a choice anyway.