How to stop tracking file in Git BUT allow “ignorable” changes to it on local copy?

Question

I need to have a file on my repository that other developers can modify on their local copy while having Git ignore those changes.

Can't use git rm --cached <file> because the file is removed from the remote, making the file unavailable for future clones/pulls.

Can't use git update-index --assume-unchanged <file> nor git update-index --skip-worktree <file> because technically the file is still being tracked since git spits out this error message on any work tree overriding operations (eg git checkout or git merge ) if the developer modifies the file:

"Please commit your changes or stash them before you switch branches. Aborting"

Can't add the file to .gitignore because it has been tracked already.

Is there any Git operation I can use to achieve this?

Thanks.

Answer 1

There is no way to allow ignoreable changes to the file in the local copy. The Git FAQ explains this thoroughly.

If you want to use a template file, don't name it the same thing as the file you want it to end up as. Name it something different, then either copy it into place with a script or let the user copy it into the right place, and ignore the actual configuration file while tracking the template.