BRIEF:
hg clone creates path "default" in /.hg/hgrc, set to where you cloned from.
Q: is it possible to disable this automatically?
DETAIL:
This is already partially answered.
In Can you prevent default-push, but allow pull? we see how to set default-push, in some hgrc file such as /.hg/hgrc, or (my preference), in ~/.hgrc
In Is hg clone equivalent to hg (init→pull) Tim Henigan says that hg clone = init; pull; hg update default; setting up default path in /.hg/hgrc.
Although elsewhere we see that this is not quite true. hg clone may differ, e.g., in that it does hard link sharing. Lacking an official statement of equivalence...
Now, disabling default-push helps a lot.
But... I have fallen into the habit of doing "hg push default". Which somewhat defaets the p;urpose.
By the way: reason I am doing this, wanting to disable the default: workflow that goes master->workspace->staging_area->master. I do many clones of the master. Modifying /.hg/hgrc to edit [path] default each time I do a cline is a pain. Doing "hg push" or "hg push default" in any of the workspaces can be bad. Instead I need to push to the staging area, ad only from the staging area am I allowed to push to the master.
(I have tried master<->staging_area<->workspace, i.e. always cloning from the sdtaging area. But I found this confusing. Plus, the part that I haven't said yet: my project makes me delete or collapse history, which adds an additional level of confusion and error-prone-ness.)