Problem Description
Cloning this repository on Windows fails due to the file living/con.md using a Windows-reserved filename. The clone operation partially succeeds but checkout fails, leaving the repository in an unusable state.
Error Output
error: invalid path 'living/con.md'
fatal: unable to checkout working tree
warning: Clone succeeded, but checkout failed.
Root Cause/ Suggested Fix
CON is a reserved device name in Windows and cannot be used as a filename, regardless of extension. This restriction dates back to MS-DOS and applies to all modern Windows versions.
According to Microsoft's official documentation on naming files:
Do not use the following reserved names for the name of a file: CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0-COM9, LPT0-LPT9. Also avoid these names followed immediately by an extension; for example, NUL.txt is not recommended.
Current Workaround
git clone --no-checkout https://github.com/commoncrawl/web-languages/
cd .\web-languages\
git config core.protectNTFS false
git checkout
Problem Description
Cloning this repository on Windows fails due to the file
living/con.mdusing a Windows-reserved filename. The clone operation partially succeeds but checkout fails, leaving the repository in an unusable state.Error Output
Root Cause/ Suggested Fix
CONis a reserved device name in Windows and cannot be used as a filename, regardless of extension. This restriction dates back to MS-DOS and applies to all modern Windows versions.According to Microsoft's official documentation on naming files:
Current Workaround