X-Git-Url: https://git.tokkee.org/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=Documentation%2Fgit-gc.txt;h=872056ea040f1f4953b538aaa4a14ded4d2170a9;hb=8b014d7157d29ce76b0f631e19c6e2ce9aeb2366;hp=b9d5660eacee03bde2360b97b80f3378972fe678;hpb=cc61ae82ec581f6cf1a38a45aaef894f085ccb16;p=git.git

diff --git a/Documentation/git-gc.txt b/Documentation/git-gc.txt
index b9d5660ea..872056ea0 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-gc.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-gc.txt
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ created from prior invocations of gitlink:git-add[1].
 
 Users are encouraged to run this task on a regular basis within
 each repository to maintain good disk space utilization and good
-operating performance.
+operating performance. Some git commands may automatically run
+`git-gc`; see the `--auto` flag below for details.
 
 OPTIONS
 -------
@@ -44,18 +45,23 @@ OPTIONS
 	few hundred changesets or so.
 
 --auto::
-	With this option, `git gc` checks if there are too many
-	loose objects in the repository and runs
-	gitlink:git-repack[1] with `-d -l` option to pack them.
-	The threshold for loose objects is set with `gc.auto` configuration
-	variable, and can be disabled by setting it to 0.  Some
-	Porcelain commands use this after they perform operation
-	that could create many loose objects automatically.
-	Additionally, when there are too many packs are present,
-	they are consolidated into one larger pack by running
-	the `git-repack` command with `-A` option.  The
-	threshold for number of packs is set with
-	`gc.autopacklimit` configuration variable.
+	With this option, `git gc` checks whether any housekeeping is
+	required; if not, it exits without performing any work.
+	Some git commands run `git gc --auto` after performing
+	operations that could create many loose objects.
++
+Housekeeping is required if there are too many loose objects or
+too many packs in the repository. If the number of loose objects
+exceeds the value of the `gc.auto` configuration variable, then
+all loose objects are combined into a single pack using
+`git-repack -d -l`.  Setting the value of `gc.auto` to 0
+disables automatic packing of loose objects.
++
+If the number of packs exceeds the value of `gc.autopacklimit`,
+then existing packs (except those marked with a `.keep` file)
+are consolidated into a single pack by using the `-A` option of
+`git-repack`. Setting `gc.autopacklimit` to 0 disables
+automatic consolidation of packs.
 
 Configuration
 -------------