Comment by PaulDavisThe1st
2 days ago
Possibly consider that "deleting a file from history" is rather far outside the norm or recommended practice for git (even though it is, of course, entirely possible)
2 days ago
Possibly consider that "deleting a file from history" is rather far outside the norm or recommended practice for git (even though it is, of course, entirely possible)
> even though it is, of course, entirely possible
I take the more realistic perspective: until git makes it impossible to commit something that shouldn't have been, like a secret, then deleting a file from history is a fundamental requirement of git.
Even if you purge the history, the secret is compromised and you should stop using it. It's moot whether or not you're able to remove it from history.
That's, for secrets. Secrets aren't the only thing one might want to remove retroactively.
The designers of git clearly disagreed, as you can guess from its design, so it's not surprising it might feel like a bit of an uphill struggle (and will probably remain so). There are other tools available.