X-Git-Url: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~ianmdlvl/git?p=dgit.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=dgit.7;h=c3e581853701e1b820d53cdb8be3f52b511cd04b;hp=6ad6ecb8e0ff1ba944aa68ba0c8d69f8db529ca7;hb=8ac258a499a5d034684d47c6144be82b87535c24;hpb=55efcfb95f9453c6a83f824988a523a26f688ee8

diff --git a/dgit.7 b/dgit.7
index 6ad6ecb8..c3e58185 100644
--- a/dgit.7
+++ b/dgit.7
@@ -201,6 +201,26 @@ 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).
 .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
@@ -282,6 +302,17 @@ branches, it will fail.
 As the maintainer you therefore have the following options:
 .TP
 \(bu
+Delete the files from your git branches,
+and your Debian source packages,
+and carry the deletion as a delta from upstream.
+(With `3.0 (quilt)' this means represeting the deletions as patches.
+You may need to pass --include-removal to dpkg-source --commit,
+or pass corresponding options to other tools.)
+This can make the Debian
+source package less useful for people without Debian build
+infrastructure.
+.TP
+\(bu
 Persuade upstream that the source code in their git history and the
 source they ship as tarballs should be identical.  Of course simply
 removing the files from the tarball may make the tarball hard for
@@ -292,17 +323,6 @@ files, perhaps with some simple automation to deal with conflicts and
 spurious changes.  This has the advantage that someone who clones
 the git repository finds the program just as easy to build as someone
 who uses the tarball.
-.TP
-\(bu
-Delete the files from your git branches,
-and your Debian source packages,
-and carry the deletion as a delta from upstream.
-(With `3.0 (quilt)' this means represeting the deletions as patches.
-You may need to pass --include-removal to dpkg-source --commit,
-or pass corresponding options to other tools.)
-This can make the Debian
-source package less useful for people without Debian build
-infrastructure.
 .LP
 Of course it may also be that the differences are due to build system
 bugs, which cause unintended files to end up in the source package.