> He said that GitLab hosts one repository with about 20-million references; each time a reference is deleted, the packed-refs file has to be completely rewritt

> He said that GitLab hosts one repository with about 20-million references; each time a reference is deleted, the packed-refs file has to be completely rewritten which means rewriting 2GB of data. "To add insult to injury, this repository typically deletes references every couple seconds." What in the world... why?