Comment by NickNameNick

Are you really using a checkout on a production server to install and configure your software?

This feels like a "Doctor, doctor - it hurts when I stick a spoon in my eye" moment - "Don't do that!"

Build tools and build servers exist for a reason.

Subversion has "svn export" if you insist on working that way. git can git clone repos --depth 1; rm -rf repos/.git if you really, really must.

And what you are calling polluted history, they are calling efficient collaboration.