On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 11:14 PM Kelvin White <kwhite@gnu.org> wrote:

> On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 10:55 PM Kelvin White <kwhite@gnu.org> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 10:40 PM Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> >  Which will have the exact same effects as `git rm --cached <file>' no?
>>>
>>> Not at all.  "git rm ..." will remove the file from the repository,
>>> i.e. it will have an effect for *everyone else*.
>>>
>>>
>>>         Stefan
>>>
>>>
>> Forgive me, but I think the confusion here is due to the fact that `git
>> reset <file>' will remove it from the curennt index, while `git rm --cache
>> <file>' will remove it from the repository completely, while leaving the
>> current local copy in tact.
>>
>
> In this case, this is exactly what you would want. Why would you want to
> keep this file in version control for everyone else? Consider this...
>
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git checkout -b test
> Switched to a new branch 'test'
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ echo "moo" >> test_file
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git status
> # On branch test
> # Untracked files:
> #   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
> #
> # test_file
> nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to
> track)
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git add test_file
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git status
> # On branch test
> # Changes to be committed:
> #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
> #
> # new file:   test_file
> #
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git commit -m "adding test file"
> [test dde69ae] adding test file
>  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)
>  create mode 100644 test_file
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git status
> # On branch test
> nothing to commit, working directory clean
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git rm --cached test_file
> rm 'test_file'
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git status
> # On branch test
> # Changes to be committed:
> #   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
> #
> # deleted:    test_file
> #
> # Untracked files:
> #   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
> #
> # test_file
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git commit -am "removing test file"
> [test 46f7f53] removing test file
>  1 file changed, 2 deletions(-)
>  delete mode 100644 test_file
> l3thal@dev ~/src/emacs-dev $ git status
> # On branch test
> # Untracked files:
> #   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
> #
> # test_file
> nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to
> track)
>

This is the same situation as a merge conflict in a file that you dont want
to keep in the remote git repo.. You need to remove it from the index and
keep it locally.