diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..db173deb6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+*         text=auto
+*.patch   -text
diff --git a/src/site/xdoc/developers.xml b/src/site/xdoc/developers.xml
index 25b4fbfff..386a71fb3 100644
--- a/src/site/xdoc/developers.xml
+++ b/src/site/xdoc/developers.xml
@@ -152,18 +152,11 @@
      Please make sure to set your IDE or editor to use spaces instead of tabs.
     </p>
     <p>
-     Committers should configure the <source>user.name</source>,
-     <source>user.email</source> and <source>core.autocrlf</source>
-     git repository or global settings with <source>git config</source>.
-     The first two settings define the identity and mail of the committer.
-     The third setting deals with line endings to achieve consistency
-     in line endings. Windows users should configure this setting to
-     <source>true</source> (thus forcing git to convert CR/LF line endings
-     in the workspace while maintaining LF only line endings in the repository)
-     while OS X and Linux users should configure it to <source>input</source>
-     (thus forcing git to only strip accidental CR/LF when committing into
-     the repository, but never when cheking out files from the repository). See <a
-     href="http://www.git-scm.com/book/en/Customizing-Git-Git-Configuration">Customizing
+     Committers should configure the <source>user.name</source> and
+     <source>user.email</source> and git repository (or global) settings
+     with <source>git config</source>.
+     They define the identity and mail of the committer.
+     See <a href="http://www.git-scm.com/book/en/Customizing-Git-Git-Configuration">Customizing
      Git - Git Configuration</a> in the git book for explanation about how to
      configure these settings and more.
     </p>