Are Multiple `.gitignore`s Frowned On?
Answer : I can think of at least two situations where you would want to have multiple .gitignore files in different (sub)directories. Different directories have different types of file to ignore. For example the .gitignore in the top directory of your project ignores generated programs, while Documentation/.gitignore ignores generated documentation. Ignore given files only in given (sub)directory (you can use /sub/foo in .gitignore , though). Please remember that patterns in .gitignore file apply recursively to the (sub)directory the file is in and all its subdirectories, unless pattern contains '/' (so e.g. pattern name applies to any file named name in given directory and all its subdirectories, while /name applies to file with this name only in given directory). As a tangential note, one case where the ability to have multiple .gitignore files is very useful is if you want an extra directory in your working copy that you never intend to commit. Just put...