Clarify which files get installed when running quarto use template and what the role of .quartoignore is?

[ramiromagno]

Description

I noticed that the files README.md and LICENSE do not get installed when I run quarto use template. Funnily enough, because I had a README.qmd, it got installed :)

So do I understand it correctly that you have special exclusion rules for particular files? Isn't that being too smart here? Wouldn't it be better to leave that to be listed in .quartoignore? Do I interpret it correctly that .quartoignore should have a role similar to .Rbuildignore for R packages?

[mcanouil]

README.md and LICENSE files are files very common which are only there to describe the repository.
There are absolutely no reasons for them to be installed, either by quarto add or quarto use.
README.qmd is not a standard file to be in a repository thus Quarto has no reason to exclude it.
.quartoignore is a "ignore" file, as .Rbuildignore or `.gitignore.

See https://quarto.org/docs/extensions/starter-templates.html#creating-a-template.

What else do you need? or what is not clear in the documentation?

[ramiromagno]

I understand that that is an opinionated design choice. I am just expressing a different opinion: I'd rather have .quartoignore being automatically added when I run:

quarto create extension journal

with .quartoignore populated with:

LICENSE
README.*

[mcanouil]

I believe the choice was "don't add files" unless necessary.
For instance, I often use "ignore everything but" kind of .gitignore file, the fact that Quarto does write into it is annoying (#6011).

This being said, if Quarto writes to .gitignore, maybe it should do the same for .quartoignore.

In some aspect maybe a "quarto vaccinate" (see https://usethis.r-lib.org/reference/git_vaccinate.html) could serve to opt-in to create *ignore files.