The rule is arbitrary and unhelpful and only helps drive a rhetorical point, not actual advice: you really don’t want to do this without a tool as safe and fast as filter-repo. Even recommending filter-branch is just aligning the footgun slightly.
If a point is to be made that confirms OP: removing a file completely isn’t trivial, and thinking one did when one didn’t it is too easy.
If a point is to be made that confirms OP: removing a file completely isn’t trivial, and thinking one did when one didn’t it is too easy.