override merge.ff = false using --ff-only

From: Matt McClure <matthewlmcclure@gmail.com>
Date: May 22, 2013, 13:21 UTC
Message-ID: <CAJELnLFqzVBd57vudsCFrTNMVxETO75GT5T5NO0sDMtgHZJU6g@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAJELnLEGCshD9z9get62+T6Z83OdPJ+A5BNSzsHA1_OC1Q00Hw@mail.gmail.com>

I naively tried to override merge.ff = false using --ff-only on the command line. I expected that it would override the configured default and perform a fast-forward merge. Instead, it said:

    $ git config -l | grep -F 'merge.ff'
    merge.ff=false

    $ git merge --ff-only foo
    fatal: You cannot combine --no-ff with --ff-only.

On the other hand, I see that --ff works just fine in the same initial state.

    $ git merge --ff foo
    Updating b869407..17b5495
    Fast-forward
    ...
     4 files changed, 2 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

Would it be better if --ff-only refused to merge only if the commits themselves prevented fast-forwarding?

-- Matt McClure http://matthewlmcclure.com http://www.mapmyfitness.com/profile/matthewlmcclure