title: How to deal with files that are changed with zero impact in git?
body: <p>I have a couple of files in my repository that change every other commit but these changes literally don't change anything. Let me explain. For example, I have a file called <code>ethereal</code> with the following contents:</p>
  
  <pre><code>foo
  bar
  kappa
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I make a commit and then the mysterious entity changes the file to this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>foo, bar,
  kappa
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>These files are <strong>exactly the same</strong> for the project. </p>
  
  <p>The mysterious entity changes them for no reason. But here's a thing: git doesn't know that these files are the same. </p>
  
  <p>That's why almost every commit includes a meaningless change of the file <code>ethereal</code>. </p>
  
  <p>And no, adding it to <code>.gitignore</code> won't help because <code>ethereal</code> <strong>has</strong> to be in the project repository. </p>
  
  <p>The commit clutter becomes a real problem.<br>
  The only solution I found is typing <code>git update-index --assume-unchanged ethereal</code> before every commit. </p>
  
  <p>But I read <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/a/28268252/1412924">here</a> that you are not supposed to do that often. Now imagine that there are 20 files like that. </p>
  
  <p>There's gotta be a better way of dealing with this.</p>