Stop Abusing .gitignore

There isn’t a single month where I don’t have to explain this. So let’s do it once and for all: .gitignore is a great feature, but people keep using it wrong.

🤓 What’s the Purpose of .gitignore?

The .gitignore file tells Git which files it should not track. It usually lives at the root of your repository, and it can list specific file paths or use wildcards.

Example:

foo
bar/*

In this case:

• Any file named foo will be ignored.
• Everything under the bar/ directory will be ignored.

That way, you don’t accidentally git add files that don’t belong in your repo.

Pretty neat.

😅 Where People Go Wrong

Here’s what happens: your working directory gets messy. Build artifacts, editor backups, OS junk files…

So you add them to .gitignore:

*~
.vscode
*.DS_Store
.idea

Problem solved? Not really.

The repo is a shared space. Your editor isn’t my editor. My OS isn’t your OS. Nobody wants PRs that just add “ignore VSCode stuff” or “ignore my Vim backups.”

It clutters history, helps nobody, and frustrates maintainers.

🙄 So How Do I Ignore My Local Junk?

Git has you covered: a global ignore file.

By default: ~/.config/git/ignore

Here’s mine:

.#*
*.swp
.DS_Store
.dir-locals.el

This keeps Vim swaps, Emacs configs, and macOS clutter out of every repo I work on.

You can configure the file location with:

git config --global core.excludesFile ~/.config/git/ignore

Now your junk stays out of everyone else’s history.

✅ What Belongs in .gitignore?

The only things that should live in .gitignore are project-generated files:

• Build artifacts
• Compiled files
• Cache directories

For example, in Python projects:

*.pyc
__pycache__/

That way, the ignore file reflects the project’s needs, not every contributor’s local setup.

💡 Takeaway

• .gitignore is for project artifacts.
• Use a global ignore for your editor/OS noise.
• Stop sending PRs that add your pet editor’s folders — nobody cares. 😉

Follow these rules, and your repositories will stay cleaner, your teammates happier, and your commit history will be free of irrelevant junk.