.gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#1

Post by RGBCube » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 4:49 PM UTC

.gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean
rgbcu.be

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#2

Post by davydm » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 4:54 PM UTC

Cool post.

I highly suggest using templates from https://github.com/github/gitignore for your project as they tend to include a lot of files commonly found in them - eg .idea folders and so on.

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#3

Post by RGBCube » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 5:11 PM UTC

davydm wrote: post #2

Cool post. I highly suggest using templates from https://github.com/github/gitignore for your project as they tend to include a lot of files commonly found in them - eg .idea folders and so on.

They're still not enough. Even with those, it's really easy for stuff to slip in.

You should just pick the nearly exhaustive option instead

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#4

Post by Brajeshwar » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 5:13 PM UTC

Yes, the time I used to hook up "rm `find ./ | grep DS_Store`" before anyone do a `git add`

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#5

Post by accoil » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 10:37 PM UTC

I think people should be responsible for the litter of their own tools. If their commits have include any litter it should be rejected as they clearly aren't paying attention. The local gitignore is for project specific files.

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#6

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 10:38 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#7

Post by arcfour » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 10:39 PM UTC

I have never once experienced this problem. Mostly because I don't work with people who blindly commit everything without even looking once to see what's in their commit.

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#8

Post by FrenchyJiby » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 10:40 PM UTC

davydm wrote: post #2

Cool post. I highly suggest using templates from https://github.com/github/gitignore for your project as they tend to include a lot of files commonly found in them - eg .idea folders and so on.

Yes-anding this to say:

For per-user gitignore, one can set the following config in ~/.gitconfig:

    # System-wide gitignore file
    # To avoid in-repo repetition for system-specifc garbage files
    [core]
        excludesfile = ~/.config/git/gitignore

Then your file at ~/.config/git/gitignore can be a normal format, and not need to be stored in repo. Perfect for system files (.DS_Store...) or editor swap files etc.

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#9

Post by arcfour » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 10:40 PM UTC

Brajeshwar wrote: post #4

Yes, the time I used to hook up "rm `find ./ | grep DS_Store`" before anyone do a `git add`

You can create a global gitignore when forced to work on a Mac that excludes these.

Re: .gitignore Is Inherently Sisyphean

#10

Post by edflsafoiewq » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 10:41 PM UTC

Ideally people who have .DS_Store, .vscode, etc. would put them into their own $GIT_DIR/info/exclude files and not pollute the shared .gitignore with stuff from their personal setup.