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Found an article about starting a repo with an empty commit. Read the post a couple of times, but still don't understand the reasoning: 1. git log and other commands blow up with terrifying ...
Question
git
#1: Initial revision
by
toraritte
·
2023-11-08T14:13:08Z (6 months ago)
What are the benefits of starting a Git repo with an empty commit?
Found an article about [starting a repo with an empty commit](https://web.archive.org/web/20170919074934/http://bit-booster.com:80/doing-git-wrong/2017/01/02/git-init-empty/). Read the post a couple of times, but still don't understand the reasoning: 1. > ##### 1. `git log` and other commands blow up with terrifying error messages. > ##### 2. You can’t `git reset` back to that initial state. Based on the first 2 section titles above I suspected that this may be a satirical writing. 2. > ##### 3. You can’t rebase the initial commit. This however seems like a valid point (echoed by a linked article, [Lesser Known Git Commands](https://hackernoon.com/lesser-known-git-commands-151a1918a60#h-git-it), found in the original post), but when I start thinking about it, I just can't see how this is useful in practice (or what it tries to prevent). 3. Linked in the original post: [(2008?) Git Magic - Appendix A. Git Shortcomings: Initial Commit](http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~blynn/gitmagic/apa.html#_initial_commit) I agree with the "counting from 0" sentiment, but still don't get what would be the benefits of an empty initial commit, other than being pedantic. 4. Linked in the original post: [(2010) How I initialize my Git repositories | Kevin Deldycke](https://kevin.deldycke.com/2010/05/initialize-git-repositories/) This post does give a rationale for using this trick for code archeology purposes (still don't get the specifics, but I understand that this is for a special use case). Links in items 3. and 4. are obviously dated and this whole idea obviously never took off(?), but I'm still wondering if there is still a benefit to it - or the changes in Git since then obviate its necessity. --- Of course, after typing all this did I find the SO threads: + [Insert a commit before the root commit in Git?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/645450/) + [How do I git rebase the first commit?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22992543) Both have the main theme of "_How to rebase the whole history, **including** the first commit?_".