Can't Hard Link the gitconfig File

Question

I am attempting to create a git repository to store all of my dotfiles and config files. My idea was to simply create hard links to all of the files I cared about and store those links in their own directory that I could turn into a repository.

I've hit a bit of a snag though with my ~/.gitconfig file. It seems that whenever I run the 'git config' command the link that I created no longer points to the right location e.g. the file in the repository no longer updates properly.

Here is an example using the shell and interactive ruby to determine the files linked state.

# Create the link
$ ln .gitconfig .conf_files/gitconfig  # Create the link

# The files are in fact linked
[1] pry(main)> File.identical?('.gitconfig', '.conf_files/gitconfig')
=> true

# Update the gitconfig file by running a 'git config' command
$ git config --global alias.last 'log -1 HEAD'

# The files are no longer linked.
[2] pry(main)> File.identical?('.gitconfig', '.conf_files/gitconfig')
=> false

I assume this has something to do with the way that git is writing the .gitconfig file. Does anyone know why this would happen, or have any creative ideas for a workaround?

Answer 1

Try Eli Barzilay's solution in his comment at http://www.xxeo.com/archives/2010/02/16/dotfiles-in-git-finally-did-it.html:

So I’ve finally found a solution that takes the best of both: put the repo in a subdirectory, and instead of symlinks, add a configuration option for “core.worktree” to be your home directory. Now when you’re in your home directory you’re not in a git repo (so the first problem is gone), and you don’t need to deal with fragile symlinks as in the second case. You still have the minor hassle of excluding paths that you don’t want versioned (eg, the “*” in “.git/info/exclude” trick), but that’s not new.