The "fossil git export" command can be used to mirror a Fossil repository to Git. (Setup instructions and an example.) But the export to Git is not perfect. Some information is lost during export due to limitations in Git. This page describes what content of Fossil is not included in an export to Git.

(1) Wiki, Tickets, Technotes, Forum

Git only supports version control. The additional features of Fossil such as Wiki, Tickets, Technotes, and the Forum are not supported in Git and so those features are not included in an export.

(2) Cherrypick Merges

The Git client supports cherrypick merges but does not remember them. In other words, Git does not record a history of cherrypick merges in its blockchain.

Fossil tracks cherrypick merges in its blockchain and display cherrypicks (as dashed lines) in its timeline (example). But history information of cherrypicks cannot be exported to Git because there is no way to represent it in the Git.

(3) Named Branches

Git has only limited support for named branches. Git identifies the head check-in of each branch. Depending on the check-in graph topology, this is sufficient to infer the branch for many historical check-ins as well. However, complex histories with lots of cross-merging can lead to ambiguities. Fossil keeps track of historical branch names unambiguously. But the extra details about branch names that Fossil keeps at hand cannot be exported to Git.

(4) Non-unique Tags

Git requires tags to be unique. Each tag must refer to exactly one check-in. Fossil does not have this restriction, and so it is common in Fossil to tag multiple check-ins with the same name. For example, it is common in Fossil to tag every release check-in with the "release" tag, so that all historical releases can be found all at once. (example)

Git does not allow this. The "release" tag must refer to just one check-in. The work-around is that the non-unique tag in the Git export is made to refer to only the most recent check-in with that tag.

(5) Amendments To Check-ins

Check-ins are immutable in both Fossil and Git. However, Fossil has a mechanism by which tags can be added its blockchain to provide after-the-fact corrections to prior check-ins.

For example, tags can be added to check-ins that correct typos in the check-in comment. The original check-in is immutable and so the original comment is preserved in addition to the correction. But software that displays the check-ins knows to look for the comment-change tag and if present displays the corrected comment rather than the original. (Example changing the typo "os" into "so".)

Git has no mechanism for providing corrections or clarifications to historical check-ins.

When exporting from Fossil to Git, the latest corrections to a Fossil check-in are used to generate the corresponding Git check-in. But once the Git check-in has been created, any subsequent corrections are omitted as there is no way to transfer them to Git.