gitattributes: dgit(7): Document our approach and rationale

[dgit.git] / dgit.7

diff --git a/dgit.7 b/dgit.7
index 635dc132e8ab67d7c30b154127fae82093309e93..284fcf65d6ca522ad574fe8f0a041931f8545e55 100644 (file)
--- a/dgit.7
+++ b/dgit.7
@@ -201,6 +201,22 @@ or previous non-Dgit uploads
 Distros which do not maintain a set of dgit history git repositories
 can still be used in a read-only mode with dgit.  Currently Ubuntu
 is configured this way.
+.SH GITATTRIBUTES
+git has features which can automatically transform files
+as they are being copied between the working tree
+and the git history.
+See \fBgitattributes\fP(5).
+
+These transformations are context-sensitive
+and not, in general, reversible,
+so dgit operates on the principle that
+the dgit git history contains the actual contents of the package.
+
+If transforming gitattributes used,
+they can cause trouble,
+because the working tree files can differ from
+the git revision history
+(and therefore from the source packages).
 .SH PACKAGE SOURCE FORMATS
 If you are not the maintainer, you do not need to worry about the
 source format of the package.  You can just make changes as you like