Adam Nielsen [off-list ref] writes:
What actually happens when you use the ssh:// style connection?
Be it ssh://host/full/path or host:/full/path or host:path/in/home, you
log in as whatver ssh identifies you as to the server, and start a
server-side git process over there.
With ssh://host/path notation, there is no way to specify any relative
path (i.e. "/path" part begins at root) so it will mean the same thing for
everybody (unless you are getting chrooted or something), while host:path
notation allows relative path which will be taken relative as where you
are, i.e. home directory of the user on the server.