title: Reducing the size of the .svn folder
body: <p>In our project we made the decision to reduce the build time by using pre-built binaries. Weekly/monthly we create a stable release and commit it to the repository. The build uses these binaries instead of building everything from source. </p>
  
  <p>For build speed this is fantastic. But, unsurprisingly, it really bulks up the SVN checkout size. Our trunk currently sits at ~22&nbsp;GB. I realize this is not the intended usage of Subversion. But we don't have an alternative at the moment.</p>
  
  <p>But I'd like to improve the current situation. The <code>.svn</code> folder makes a big contribution to the size of trunk on disk. When the binaries are updated, it seems to keep several bases in the .svn folder. That is, if a binary is 4&nbsp;GB there is a copy in the <code>.svn</code>. If it's updated then the <code>.svn</code> folder holds the original base plus the new base and bulks up to 8&nbsp;GB for that one file.</p>
  
  <p>Is it possible to tell Subversion not to keep a base in the <code>.svn</code> folder for certain files? Through google I found a similar question, <em><a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/tortoisesvn/0I3ChlTXUEw">How to decrease .svn folder size?</a></em>.</p>
  
  <p>The answer Simon received was</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Use a partial checkout (which won't work for me as I need the binaries)</li>
  <li>This is not yet a feature of Subversion</li>
  <li>It was discussed, but will not be a feature until at least Subversion 1.8</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Luckily for me subversion 1.8 has been released. Was this feature added?</p>
  
  <p>I did not notice it in <a href="http://subversion.apache.org/docs/release-notes/1.8.html#in-repo-authz">the release notes</a>. Though "Directory and property storage reduction" looks promising.</p>