From: Jay Soffian <jaysoffian@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:04:33 GMT
Subject: Re: [PATCH] Docs: git checkout --orphan: `root commit' and `branch head'
Message-ID: <CAG+J_DxzcuYiffm6XVX-RQSxeMwy4Yi7CdhCdddAN=xRyJ2b5Q@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <7v39fhyk21.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>

On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 1:25 PM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
> Michael Witten <mfwitten@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> It seems like a more logical approach would be instead for "git
>> commit" to take a "--root" option that would create a new root commit
>> based on the current index and then point the current branch head to
>> the new root commit. Thus:
>>
>>   $ git checkout -b new_branch old_branch
>>   $ # Manipulate or not
>>   $ git commit --root
>>
>> That's how people think.
>
> This may indeed be an improvement. I suspect that we'd need to think about
> it a bit more, but it feels right (perhaps introduce this new option,
> deprecate --orphan from the checkout, and then eventually remove it
> sometime in 1.8.0 timeframe).

Hrm, create new_branch just so you can immediately clobber its SHA1
with the new commit that has no parents. That doesn't seem quite
right. Imagine you use "git commit --root" by accident while on
master, then you have to dig into your reflog?

But it's close. Maybe:

$ git commit --new-root-branch=<name>

Which creates <name> with the index as its sole commit and switches
you to that branch? That doesn't feel quite right either.

</thinking out loud>

j.