Here's a slightly simpler test case for adding a symbolic link. This test exploits the fact that on my system, /bin/awk is a symbolic link to "gawk". As you can see, the behavior of Git differs if the link's path is given to "git add" as an absolute path or a relative path. Here is the test script: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #! /bin/bash # Illustrates a problem with applying "git add" to a symbolic link. set -x # To be run from a directory one step below the root directory. E.g., # "/git-add-link". # Exploits the fact that /bin/awk is a symbolic link to "gawk". # Show the Git version. git version # Make a test directory and cd to it. DIR=temp.$$ mkdir $DIR cd $DIR # Create a Git repository. git init # Set the worktree to be / git config core.worktree / # Create an empty commit. git commit --allow-empty -m Empty. # Add the symbolic link using its absolute name. ABSOLUTE=/bin/awk ls -l $ABSOLUTE git add $ABSOLUTE # Notice that the target of the link is added, not the link itself. git status -uno # Reset the index. git reset # Add the symbolic link using its relative name. # Remember that we are two directory levels below the root directory now. RELATIVE=../..$ABSOLUTE ls -l $RELATIVE git add $RELATIVE # Notice that now the link itself is added. git status -uno ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the output of the script: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- + git version git version 1.7.7.6 + DIR=temp.22366 + mkdir temp.22366 + cd temp.22366 + git init Initialized empty Git repository in /git-add-link/temp.22366/.git/ + git config core.worktree / + git commit --allow-empty -m Empty. [master (root-commit) fb232e5] Empty. + ABSOLUTE=/bin/awk + ls -l /bin/awk lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 4 Nov 2 2012 /bin/awk -> gawk + git add /bin/awk + git status -uno # On branch master # Changes to be committed: # (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage) # # new file: ../../bin/gawk # # Untracked files not listed (use -u option to show untracked files) + git reset + RELATIVE=../../bin/awk + ls -l ../../bin/awk lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 4 Nov 2 2012 ../../bin/awk -> gawk + git add ../../bin/awk + git status -uno # On branch master # Changes to be committed: # (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage) # # new file: ../../bin/awk # # Untracked files not listed (use -u option to show untracked files) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I can't see any principle of operation of Git that would cause "git add /bin/awk" and "git add ../../bin/awk" to be handled differently. Dale -- 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