[git-annex] Persistent change tracking

[Adam Spiers]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 2:35 AM, Richard Hartmann
<richih.mailinglist at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> while bup works as a special remote, it's not a proper repo in and as of itself.
>
> With proper tracking in the git-annex or a different branch, it should
> be possible to make (some) git-annex repos persistent and change
> tracking while others still only retain the most recent data.
>
> is this something others would find useful as well or am I alone with this?
>
> Just want to get some input before filing a proper wishlist item.

Is your point that a bup remote is persistent (i.e. not lossy) but
does not track history, whereas a normal annex is the opposite - lossy
(when an annexed file's contents change), but does track changes?  Of
course, a normal git commit provides both, but then typically that
history is retained in any clone of the repository.  There is the
--depth option to git clone, but maybe you are looking for something
more configurable and less prone to bloat, e.g. via .gitattributes?

If I understand you correctly, it sounds useful to me.  Old data
is... well, old data, and is usually only kept for historical purposes
and/or safety.  So as long as one or two of the peer repos have it,
the others may not need it.