title: How to use git to track changes in another directory?
body: <p>I'm working on a project where I have access to the code but can't add version control to the source directory itself. (The main developer has his own source control, but it's not accessible/comprehensible/etc. for reasons not relevant here.)</p>
  
  <p>To keep my sanity, as well as to track any changes the other developer makes, I'd like to have some kind of version control system set up. (Git is the only version control system I've used since the dark days of VSS, so that's probably what I'll use.)</p>
  
  <p>My current plan is to mirror the existing codebase and initialize git locally. But I'll need to be able to compare my local copy to the actual source when the other developer makes changes.</p>
  
  <p>My questions:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Is this a reasonable strategy?</li>
  <li>If so, should I set it up with <code>git init --bare</code> or just <code>git init</code>?</li>
  <li>How should I compare my local copy with the actual source? <code>diff -qNr source/ local-source/</code>? <code>git diff --no-index source/ local-source/</code>? Something else?</li>
  </ol>