diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/direct_mode.mdwn')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/direct_mode.mdwn | 22 |
1 files changed, 16 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/doc/direct_mode.mdwn b/doc/direct_mode.mdwn index 9abaf5207..f8d6fe986 100644 --- a/doc/direct_mode.mdwn +++ b/doc/direct_mode.mdwn @@ -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. |