Re: [RFC] Detached-HEAD reminder on commit?

From: Pieter de Bie <pdebie@ai.rug.nl>
Date: Sep 2, 2008, 21:51 UTC
Message-ID: <0578A0F2-F90A-4555-9B34-726F26A1CDBB@ai.rug.nl>
In-Reply-To: <20080902210524.GB7757@leksak.fem-net>

On 2 sep 2008, at 23:05, Stephan Beyer wrote:

Show 22 quoted lines

> Junio C Hamano wrote:
>> Pieter de Bie <pdebie@ai.rug.nl> writes:
>>
> [..]
>>> Vienna:git pieter$ ./git commit --allow-empty -m"test"
>>> Created commit 6ce62c8b: test
>>> You are on a detached head, so this commit has not been recorded  
>>> in a branch.
>>> If you don't want to lose this commit, checkout a branch and then  
>>> run:
>>> 	git merge 6ce62c8bfcfb341106f3587d1c141c3955c2544c
>>>
>>> Are there any comments to this / strong opinions against such a  
>>> change?
>>
>> Unconditionally doing this is too loud for my taste.  You probably  
>> can do
>> this in your post-commit hook.
>
> Well, Pieter probably can do this in his post-commit hook. But I think
> this is useful for usability... especially for beginners who might not
> even know what a hook is. ;)

Exactly..I can fix this for myself, and when things go wrong I can also fix it, but there are people less with Git that don't understand what's going on.

Show 5 quoted lines

> For me this felt too loud, too, especially since "git status" and
> "git commit" (without message option) already tells the user that
> she is on a detached HEAD. And "git commit -a" is usually done after
> a "git status", too, isn't it? (I do not use "git commit -a", I *use*
> the index.)

The one in "git status" is somewhat noticeable with color highlighting, but the "git commit" one doesn't exactly stand out:

	# Please enter the commit message for your changes. Lines starting
	# with '#' will be ignored, and an empty message aborts the commit.
	# Not currently on any branch.
	# Untracked files:
	#   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)

It's the third line, surrounded by other lines and at the bottom of the window.

How about a single line then, something like

	Vienna:git pieter$ ./git commit --allow-empty -m"test"
	Created commit 6ce62c8b: test
	Remember you are on a detached head, create a new branch to not lose  
these changes