title: msys git and long paths
body: <p>I'm trying to use git to more effectively manage working on project which uses CVS for its source control, but I'm having problems <code>add</code>-ing a file which has a very long path indeed - 276 characters.</p>
  
  <p>Unfortunately, this file is generated by the custom IDE the tool I'm using is shipped with and it's expected to be there by the tool, so can't be renamed or moved.</p>
  
  <p>Using the following to try to make this semi-readable:</p>
  
  <p><code>&lt;projectpath&gt;</code> - the path holding all components for this project<br>
  <code>&lt;hugepath&gt;</code> - the path from <code>&lt;projectpath&gt;</code> to the first file I'm having problems with<br>
  <code>&lt;filename&gt;</code> - the name of the file I'm having problems with</p>
  
  <pre><code>me@work &lt;projectpath&gt;
  $ git init
  Initialized empty Git repository in &lt;projectpath&gt;/.git/
  
  me@work &lt;projectpath&gt; (master)
  $ git add &lt;hugepath&gt;/&lt;filename&gt;
  fatal: unable to stat '&lt;hugepath&gt;/&lt;filename&gt;': No such file or directory
  
  me@work &lt;projectpath&gt; (master)
  $ ls -al &lt;hugepath&gt;
  ls: &lt;hugepath&gt;/&lt;filename&gt;: File or path name too long
  total 3
  drwxr-xr-x    3 me Administ        0 May  3  2010 .
  drwxr-xr-x    4 me Administ     4096 May  3  2010 ..
  drwxr-xr-x    2 me Administ        0 May  3  2010 CVS
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The msys tools work with paths using the UNC prefix which usually lets you work
  with long files on windows, but this doesn't seem to get around the path limitation:</p>
  
  <pre><code>me@work &lt;projectpath&gt; (master)
  $ git add //?/&lt;projectpath&gt;/&lt;hugepath&gt;/&lt;filepath&gt;
  fatal: Too long path: //?/&lt;projectpath&gt;/&lt;hugep (intin - the path displayed is trimmed)
  
  me@work &lt;projectpath&gt; (master)
  $ ls-al //?/&lt;projectpath&gt;/&lt;hugepath&gt;/
  ls: //?/&lt;projectpath&gt;/&lt;hugepath&gt;/.: No such file or directory
  ls: //?/&lt;projectpath&gt;/&lt;hugepath&gt;/&lt;filepath&gt;: No such file or directory
  total 2
  drwxr-xr-x    4 me Administ     4096 May  3  2010 ..
  drwxr-xr-x    0 me Administ        0 May  3  2010 CVS
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Are there any workarounds you know of for tracking files with long paths using git on Windows?</p>
  
  <p>I'm using 1.7.4.msysgit.0 on Windows Vista Business, SP1.</p>