git: multiple linux kernel versions in a single repository

[BattlePanic]

I'm new to the linux kernel and somewhat new to git as well. I've cloned the kernel.org mainline kernel from the following location:

git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git

Because I am currently running 2.6.35 and I want to be able to track bugfixes to this particular kernel release. As such, I have also cloned the stable 2.6.35 repository at:

git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/longterm/linux-2.6.35.y.git

This works, but tracking two different versions of the kernel source in two separate repositories seems like a waste of disk space. Can I simply track these as separate branches within a single local repository? Is this advisable? Is there a reason why kernel.org distributes previous versions and separate repositories?

[BattlePanic]

After some reading and experimentation it turns out that I can indeed track both repositories within the a single local repository.

From my cloned repository of the mainline kernel, I issued the following command to tell git to also track the 2.6.35-longterm tree:


git remote add v2.6.35.y git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/longterm/linux-2.6.35.y.git

I then fetched any new git objects and refs from the newly tracked remote repository:


git fetch v2.6.35.y

To then create a local branch based off the master branch of the this remote repository I entered the following:


git branch --track my_2.6.35.y v2.6.35/master

I now how have a local branch named 'my_2.6.35.y' which is synced with the 2.6.35 longterm tree.