I have an repository for an app that I'm working on that includes a configuration file. Currently, I distribute with a .dist
extension, and have the user rename the file before editing it.
nate:~/myAwesomeApp% git ls-files
.gitignore
README
config.dist
glorious_support_lib.p
bestProgramEvar.f90
This is fine and dandy, and the actual config is ignored.
nate:~/myAwesomeApp% cat .gitignore
config
It would be sweet, however, if I could just distribute that config file under its real name and ready-to-edit, while leaving it ignored so that a newly cloned copy of the repository has a "functional" distribution, and it is not overwritten, clobbered, or otherwise molested, and such that users don't have to worry about pushing or publishing their super-secret configuration details to the interwebs via an unintended git commit -a -m 'hurrrr derp! oopsies!' && git push
Is there a way of doing this? Of having git keep around a single original version of the file that gets cloned out, but is thereafter ignored?
I'm sure this has been asked before, but for the life of me, my google-fu has failed. Lay the schoolin' on deep, SO.