The --local flag is not "treat this like a local repository", but rather "if we are local, turn on optimizations". Therefore it does nothing in the case of: git clone --local file:///path/to/repo Let's make that more clear in the documentation. Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@xxxxxxxx> --- Documentation/git-clone.txt | 17 ++++++++++------- 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt index 6e22522..1d267f4 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt @@ -46,13 +46,16 @@ OPTIONS mechanism and clones the repository by making a copy of HEAD and everything under objects and refs directories. The files under `.git/objects/` directory are hardlinked - to save space when possible. This is now the default when - the source repository is specified with `/path/to/repo` - syntax, so it essentially is a no-op option. To force - copying instead of hardlinking (which may be desirable - if you are trying to make a back-up of your repository), - but still avoid the usual "git aware" transport - mechanism, `--no-hardlinks` can be used. + to save space when possible. ++ +If the repository is specified as a local path (e.g., `/path/to/repo`), +this is the default, and --local is essentially a no-op. If the +repository is specified as a URL, then this flag is ignored (and we +never use the local optimizations). ++ +To force copying instead of hardlinking (which may be desirable if you +are trying to make a back-up of your repository), but still avoid the +usual "git aware" transport mechanism, `--no-hardlinks` can be used. --no-hardlinks:: Optimize the cloning process from a repository on a -- 1.7.11.rc0.12.g6048c92 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html