update documentation about direct mode safety

This commit is contained in:
Joey Hess 2013-01-16 15:35:06 -04:00
parent 88df952243
commit 9a44addacf

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@ -24,18 +24,28 @@ To stop using direct mode:
git annex indirect
## safety of using direct mode
With direct mode, you're operating without large swathes of git-annex's
carefully constructed safety net. So you're strongly encouraged to tell
git-annex that your direct mode repository cannot be trusted to retain
the content of a file (because any file can be deleted or modified at
any time). To do so:
carefully constructed safety net, which ensures that past versions of
files are preserved and can be accessed (until you dropunused them).
With direct mode, any file can be edited directly, or deleted at any time,
and there's no guarantee that the old version is backed up somewhere else.
So if you care about preserving the history of files, you're strongly
encouraged to tell git-annex that your direct mode repository cannot be
trusted to retain the content of a file. To do so:
git annex untrust .
On the other hand, if you only care about the current versions of files,
and are using git-annex with direct mode to keep files synchronised between
computers, and manage your files, this should not be a concern for you.
## use a direct mode repository
You can use most git-annex commands as usual in a direct mode repository.
A few commands don't work in direct mode, and will refuse to do anything.
A very few commands don't work in direct mode, and will refuse to do anything.
Direct mode also works well with the git-annex assistant.
@ -54,6 +64,6 @@ ways... But beware, these commands can replace files that are present in
your repository with broken symlinks. If that file was the only copy you
had of something, it'll be lost.
This is one reason it's wise to make git-annex untrust your direct mode
This is one more reason it's wise to make git-annex untrust your direct mode
repositories. Still, you can lose data using these sort of git commands, so
use extreme caution.