Re: No error when overwriting ignored files

On Wed, Apr 07 2021, Jeff King wrote:

On Wed, Apr 07, 2021 at 03:56:38PM -0400, Horst von Brand wrote:

quoted

When pulling from a repository that tracks a file listed in
`.gitignore` that would overwrite a local file, this is not reported.

For example, in the attached repositories, when doing `git pull tst1`
in `tst2`, it is (correctly) reported that `ignored.not` would be
overwritten, while `ignored.txt` is not reported.

This is behaving as intended. Ignored files are not considered
"precious". You can find more discussion by searching for that term in
the list archive.

There is no concept of "ignored but precious" in Git. However, here's an
old patch series that tries to move in that direction (using an
attribute):

  https://lore.kernel.org/git/20190216114938.18843-1-pclouds@gmail.com/ (local)

AFAIK nobody is actively working on it right now.

Having re-read that thread now I still think by far the most useful way
forward with this for anyone who's interested is to investigate/add
missing tests for our current behavior, why/when it got introduced,
whether anyone wanted it or if it was emergent etc. See [1] for a
summary.

That's quite a bit of work, but is work that someone with little/no
previous familiarity with git's development should be able to do with
enough time & motivation....

1. https://lore.kernel.org/git/87ftsi68ke.fsf@evledraar.gmail.com/ (local)