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A comment on Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead. Parent comment

Re:Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead by zahlman on Saturday February 21, 2026 @03:13PM (#47104217)
I like to make a .local folder at the top of the project, which contains a .gitignore that ignores everything. Then I can effortlessly stash my development notes there without affecting the project .gitignore or messing around within the .git directory.
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Re:Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead by beAbU on Sunday February 22, 2026 @05:50AM (#47110000)
Why not put '.local' in your toplevel gitignore, and not commit an empty .local folder up to the forge?
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Re:Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead by zahlman on Sunday February 22, 2026 @01:35PM (#47113445)
Upstream never sees an empty .local folder because, as established, Git doesn't keep empty folders. This way, .local isn't mentioned in the top-level .gitignore. It's just that tiny bit cleaner.
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Re:Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead by ddek on Sunday February 22, 2026 @01:50PM (#47113566)
You can create a global gitignore in your home directory. I have ‘.<myname>’ ignored there, so if I ever create a directory with that name I know it’s contents won’t go into source control. That way I don’t have to edit the repositories gitignore with me-specific stuff.
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Re:Don't create .gitkeep files, use .gitignore instead by hobofan on Sunday February 22, 2026 @05:31PM (#47115469)
You wouldn't have to edit the actual repositories gitignore anyways. Every checkout of a repo comes with a .git/info/exclude file, which acts like a local additional gitignore file.
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