test suite: gitattributes: Reorganise and improve, still wip

[dgit.git] / dgit.7

diff --git a/dgit.7 b/dgit.7
index 635dc132e8ab67d7c30b154127fae82093309e93..acc7cc1a36d71f3dfc67b740ff3aa31a4e1663f2 100644 (file)
--- a/dgit.7
+++ b/dgit.7
@@ -201,6 +201,32 @@ 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.
+(When dgit is manipulating a .dsc,
+it does so in a private area,
+where the transforming gitattributes are defused (disabled),
+to achieve this.)
+
+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).
+
+So dgit clone
+and dgit setup-new-tree
+disable transforming gitattributes
+by default,
+by creating a .git/info/attributes.
 .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