title: Git: How to rebase a bare repo
body: <p>I'm using <a href="https://github.com/ytti/oxidized" rel="noreferrer">backup software</a> that makes commits directly to a bare repository by editing the index, rather than updating files in a work directory.</p>
  
  <p>I want the commits to be pushed to a repository on github, so I've cloned my repo as a bare repository and pointed the backup utility at it.  It creates commits just fine which I can push to github as long as the repo hasn't changed upstream.</p>
  
  <p>If the repo does have upstream changes, git won't let me push because of the merge conflict, but I'm also not able to pull/rebase because the bare repository has no work directory to stage the changes.</p>
  
  <p>Everything I can find basically indicates that I should clone the repo so that it has a work tree, but the software I'm using limits my ability to do that.  I tried and when it's pointed at a bare repository the changes it makes don't show up in the work directory so git is confused and thinks files are missing.</p>
  
  <p>Hopefully someone more knowledgable than I can shed some light on this.  Thanks!</p>