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Re: Newbie grief

From
RPRich Pixley <rich.pixley@palm.com>
Date
May 4, 2012, 17:57 UTC
Message-ID
<4FA418A7.2050100@palm.com>
In-Reply-To
<1167779eee7d442b9db0eecb347d5516-mfwitten@gmail.com>
On 5/3/12 21:35 , Michael Witten wrote:
Show 34 quoted lines
> On Thu, 3 May 2012 20:13:01 -0700, Nathan Gray wrote:
>
>> On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 6:01 PM, Illia Bobyr<ibobyr@blizzard.com>  wrote:
>>> It is just a "non-fast forward" move of a branch tip.  This term
>>> describes what happens precisely :)
>>>
>>> It is true, that the term is non obvious to the new comers.
>>> One may google and get an explanation of the error pretty quickly.
>>> First hit for "git non fast forward error" gives an explanation from a
>>> new comer point of view for the simplest case.
>> I just led a team of reasonably bright people through a transition
>> from SVN to git.  Not one of them understood this message.  Every one
>> of them thought something was broken.  This is a very common
>> occurrence, so a short, simple message without jargon for this error
>> would be a big, big win.
> Well, what is your suggestion?
>
> Nobody in this thread has yet provided an explicit improvement because
> the actual complaint is that the vast majority of people (including
> supposed "professionals") don't RTFM; it never even occurs to them!
>
> Let's look at the message in question:
>
>    To $uri_for_central_repo
>     ! [rejected]        HEAD ->  feature_0 (non-fast-forward)
>    error: failed to push some refs to '$uri_for_central_repo'
>    To prevent you from losing history, non-fast-forward updates were rejected
>    Merge the remote changes (e.g. 'git pull') before pushing again.  See the
>    'Note about fast-forwards' section of 'git push --help' for details.
>
> Not only does this already spoonfeed the reader with a suggested
> command for getting back on track (i.e., 'git pull'), but it also
> explicitly points out the relevant documentation and HOW to gain
> immediate access to that information from the command line!
Let's take it line by line.

"Rejected - mumble" - the tool did not do what you asked. "error: failed to mumble" - your data is corrupt. "To prevent you mumble mumble" - you're not allowed to do what you want

I stopped reading there.

I'm not saying this is a correct interpretation. I'm offering it as a data point from a sophisticated, although new, user.

I've already offered a suggestion for rewording.
--rich
Previous: Rich PixleyNext: Michael Witten
Message 91 of 100 in “Newbie grief”
  1. Rich PixleyApr 30, 2012
  2. Seth RobertsonApr 30, 2012
  3. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  4. Junio C HamanoMay 1, 2012
  5. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  6. Sitaram ChamartyMay 1, 2012
  7. Ted Ts'oMay 1, 2012
  8. Sitaram ChamartyMay 1, 2012
  9. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  10. Michael WittenMay 1, 2012
  11. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  12. Jakub NarebskiMay 2, 2012
  13. Randal L. SchwartzMay 1, 2012
  14. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  15. Randal L. SchwartzMay 1, 2012
  16. Junio C HamanoMay 1, 2012
  17. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  18. Randal L. SchwartzMay 1, 2012
  19. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  20. Michael WittenMay 1, 2012
  21. Philip OakleyMay 1, 2012
  22. Hallvard Breien FurusethMay 3, 2012
  23. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  24. Hallvard Breien FurusethMay 3, 2012
  25. Hallvard Breien FurusethMay 3, 2012
  26. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  27. Junio C HamanoMay 3, 2012
  28. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  29. Randal L. SchwartzMay 3, 2012
  30. Junio C HamanoMay 3, 2012
  31. Felipe ContrerasMay 4, 2012
  32. Felipe ContrerasMay 4, 2012
  33. Michael WittenMay 4, 2012
  34. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  35. Randal L. SchwartzMay 1, 2012
  36. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  37. Andreas EricssonMay 1, 2012
  38. PJ WeisbergMay 1, 2012
  39. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  40. Nathan GrayMay 3, 2012
  41. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  42. Randal L. SchwartzMay 3, 2012
  43. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  44. Mark BrownMay 4, 2012
  45. Rich PixleyMay 4, 2012
  46. Jakub NarebskiMay 4, 2012
  47. Mark BrownMay 4, 2012
  48. Hallvard Breien FurusethMay 2, 2012
  49. Michael WittenMay 2, 2012
  50. Hallvard Breien FurusethMay 3, 2012
  51. Randal L. SchwartzMay 3, 2012
  52. Michael WittenMay 3, 2012
  53. Hallvard Breien FurusethMay 3, 2012
  54. Michael WittenMay 3, 2012
  55. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  56. Ted Ts'oMay 3, 2012
  57. Felipe ContrerasMay 1, 2012
  58. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  59. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  60. Andreas EricssonMay 4, 2012
  61. Stephen BashMay 4, 2012
  62. Mark BrownMay 4, 2012
  63. Felipe ContrerasMay 4, 2012
  64. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  65. Jan KrügerApr 30, 2012
  66. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  67. Philippe VaucherMay 2, 2012
  68. Seth RobertsonMay 1, 2012
  69. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  70. Michael WittenMay 1, 2012
  71. Junio C HamanoMay 1, 2012
  72. Michael WittenMay 1, 2012
  73. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  74. Rich PixleyMay 1, 2012
  75. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  76. Ronan KeryellMay 3, 2012
  77. Junio C HamanoMay 3, 2012
  78. Ronan KeryellMay 3, 2012
  79. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  80. Rich PixleyMay 3, 2012
  81. Illia BobyrMay 4, 2012
  82. Nathan GrayMay 4, 2012
  83. Michael WittenMay 4, 2012
  84. Junio C HamanoMay 4, 2012
  85. Carlos Martín NietoMay 4, 2012
  86. Junio C HamanoMay 4, 2012
  87. Junio C HamanoMay 4, 2012
  88. Nathan GrayMay 4, 2012
  89. Illia BobyrMay 4, 2012
  90. Rich PixleyMay 4, 2012
  91. Rich PixleyMay 4, 2012
  92. Michael WittenMay 4, 2012
  93. Andrew SayersMay 4, 2012
  94. Jérôme BenoitMay 4, 2012
  95. Felipe ContrerasMay 4, 2012
  96. Junio C HamanoMay 4, 2012
  97. Felipe ContrerasMay 4, 2012
  98. Rich PixleyMay 4, 2012
  99. Felipe ContrerasMay 4, 2012
  100. Sitaram ChamartyMay 2, 2012

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