From: Mark Jason Dominus Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:09:28 GMT Subject: BUG 1.7.9: git-update-ref strange behavior with ref with trailing newline Message-ID: <15093.1328220568@plover.com> Here I use git symbolic-ref to update HEAD with a ref whose name contains trailing newlines: $ git symbolic-ref -m "this message does not appear" HEAD 'refs/heads/master > > > ' The newlines are inserted into .git/HEAD, but are innocuous, because other git commands ignore them. The bug is that the -m option is completely ignored: $ git reflog HEAD | grep 'message does not appear' $ If trailing newlines are considered acceptable, the -m option should be honored. If not, an error message should be printed and thecommand should exit with a nonzero exit status. I will prepare a patch if you will say which behavior would be preferable. Mark Jason Dominus mjd@plover.com