Message-ID: <45A072C5.1080400@garzik.org>
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 23:10:45 -0500
From: Jeff Garzik <jeff@garzik.org>
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To: nigel@nigel.suspend2.net
CC: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>, "J.H." <warthog9@kernel.org>,
       Randy Dunlap <randy.dunlap@oracle.com>, Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>,
       Pavel Machek <pavel@ucw.cz>, kernel list <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>,
       webmaster@kernel.org
Subject: Re: [KORG] Re: kernel.org lies about latest -mm kernel
References: <20061214223718.GA3816@elf.ucw.cz>	 <20061216094421.416a271e.randy.dunlap@oracle.com>	 <20061216095702.3e6f1d1f.akpm@osdl.org>  <458434B0.4090506@oracle.com>	 <1166297434.26330.34.camel@localhost.localdomain>	 <1166304080.13548.8.camel@nigel.suspend2.net>  <459152B1.9040106@zytor.com> <1168140954.2153.1.camel@nigel.suspend2.net>
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Nigel Cunningham wrote:
> Hi.
> 
> On Tue, 2006-12-26 at 08:49 -0800, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
>> Nigel Cunningham wrote:
>>> Hi.
>>>
>>> I've have git trees against a few versions besides Linus', and have just
>>> moved all but Linus' to staging to help until you can get your new
>>> hardware. If others were encouraged to do the same, it might help a lot?
>>>
>> Not really.  In fact, it would hardly help at all.
>>
>> The two things git users can do to help is:
>>
>> 1. Make sure your alternatives file is set up correctly;
>> 2. Keep your trees packed and pruned, to keep the file count down.
>>
>> If you do this, the load imposed by a single git tree is fairly negible.
> 
> Sorry for the slow reply, and the ignorance... what's an alternatives
> file? I've never heard of them before.

It's highly useful but poorly documented method of referencing 
repository B's objects from repository A.

When you clone locally

	git clone --reference linus-2.6 linus-2.6 nigel-2.6

it will create nigel-2.6 with zero objects, and an alternatives file 
pointing to 'linus-2.6' local repository.  When you commit, only the 
objects not already in linus-2.6 will be found in nigel-2.6.

It's far better "git clone -l ..." because you don't even have the 
additional hardlinked inodes, and don't have to run "git relink" locally.

	Jeff


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