From: Shourya Shukla Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 09:38:11 GMT Subject: [PATCH v4 4/4] gitfaq: fetching and pulling a repository Message-ID: <20200429093811.8475-4-shouryashukla.oo@gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <20200429093811.8475-1-shouryashukla.oo@gmail.com> Add an issue in 'Common Issues' section which addresses the confusion between performing a 'fetch' and a 'pull'. Signed-off-by: Shourya Shukla --- Documentation/gitfaq.txt | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 20 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/gitfaq.txt b/Documentation/gitfaq.txt index 6f32846e3d..e091513639 100644 --- a/Documentation/gitfaq.txt +++ b/Documentation/gitfaq.txt @@ -253,6 +253,26 @@ way of cloning it in lesser space?:: Any entity which has not been cloned to save space can be cloned on-demand. See linkgit:partial-clone[1]. +[[fetching-and-pulling]] +How do I know if I want to do a fetch or a pull?:: + A fetch brings in the latest changes made upstream (i.e., the + remote repository we are working on). This allows us to inspect + the changes made upstream and integrate all those changes (if + and only if we want to) or only cherry pick certain changes. + Fetching does not have any immediate effects on the local + repository. + + A pull is a wrapper for a fetch and merge. This means that doing + a `git pull` will not only fetch the changes made upstream but + integrate them as well with our local repository. The merge may + go smoothly or have merge conflicts depending on the case. A pull + does not allow you to review any changes made upstream but rather + merge those changes on their own. ++ +This is the reason why it is sometimes advised to fetch the changes +first and then merge them accordingly because not every change might +be of utility to the user. + Hooks ----- -- 2.26.2