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Re: [PATCH v4 0/5] doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section

From
D. Ben Knoble <ben.knoble@gmail.com>
Date
Oct 1, 2025, 22:28 UTC
Message-ID
<CALnO6CAmkzH=iHOU30Ud7jbP_91ovYuZBTx4nC_84ZPM53BoiA@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<pull.1964.v4.git.1759262314.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

On Tue, Sep 30, 2025 at 3:58 PM Julia Evans via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:

Show 17 quoted lines
> changes in v4:
>
>  * Add "the simplest way to push is git push <remote> <branch>" at the
>    beginning since (as discussed) this is the form of git push that's
>    easiest to explain.
>  * Remove "as a safety measure" since (as discussed with Junio) the reason
>    that git push sometimes requires you to set an upstream is very
>    confusing, and "as a safety measure..." makes it sound more principled
>    than it is. Also update the commit message to say that the previous
>    explanation was not describing push.default=simple's behaviour
>    accurately.
>  * Reword "To decide which repository to push to..." because I felt like it
>    was still phrased in a clunky way.
>  * Make UPSTREAM BRANCHES and CONFIGURATION into actual links in the HTML
>    docs
>  * Fix formatting in UPSTREAM BRANCHES section, from Junio's review
>  * Fix some commit message mistakes, from Junio's review
Great work.
Show 32 quoted lines
>  4:  be6453d010 ! 4:  c1d4ea8d27 doc: git-push: clarify "what to push"
>      @@ Commit message
>           * not understanding what the term "upstream" means in Git
>             ("are branches tracked by some system besides their names?"")
>
>      -    Address all of these by using a numbered "in order of precedence" list
>      -    (similar to the previous commit), by giving a little bit of context
>      -    around "upstream branch": it's something that you may have to set
>      -    explicitly, and referring to the new UPSTREAM BRANCHES section.
>      +    Also, the current explanation of `push.default=simple` ("the
>      +    current branch is pushed to the corresponding upstream branch, but
>      +    as a safety measure, the push is aborted if the upstream branch
>      +    does not have the same  name as the local one.") is not accurate:
>      +    `push.default=simple` does not always require you to set a corresponding
>      +    upstream branch.
>      +
>      +    Address all of these by
>      +
>      +    * using a numbered "in order of precedence" list
>      +    * giving a more accurate explanation of how `push.default=simple` works
>      +    * giving a little bit of context around "upstream branch": it's
>      +      something that you may have to set explicitly
>      +    * referring to the new UPSTREAM BRANCHES section
>
>           The default behaviour is still discussed pretty late but it should be
>           easier to skim now to get to the relevant information.
>
>      +    In "`git push` may fail if...",  I'm intentionally being vague about
>      +    what exactly `git push` does, because (as discussed on the mailing list)
>      +    the behaviour of `push.default=simple` is very confusing, perhaps broken,
>      +    and certainly not worth trying to explain in an introductory context.
>      +    `push.default.simple` sometimes requires you to set an upstream and
Rather, push.default=simple?
-- 
D. Ben Knoble
Previous: Julia EvansNext: Julia Evans via GitGitGadget
Message 76 of 87 in “doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section & refspec definition”
  1. 0/4 doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section & refspec definitionJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Aug 26, 2025
  2. 1/4 doc: git-push: update introJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Aug 26, 2025
  3. D. Ben KnobleAug 28, 2025
  4. Junio C HamanoAug 28, 2025
  5. Kristoffer HaugsbakkAug 29, 2025
  6. Julia EvansAug 28, 2025
  7. D. Ben KnobleAug 28, 2025
  8. 2/4 doc: git-push: clarify "where to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Aug 26, 2025
  9. Junio C HamanoAug 27, 2025
  10. 3/4 doc: git-push: clarify "what to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Aug 26, 2025
  11. Junio C HamanoAug 26, 2025
  12. Julia EvansAug 27, 2025
  13. D. Ben KnobleAug 28, 2025
  14. 4/4 doc: git-push: rewrite refspec specificationJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Aug 26, 2025
  15. Junio C HamanoAug 26, 2025
  16. Julia EvansAug 27, 2025
  17. D. Ben KnobleAug 28, 2025
  18. 0/4 doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION section & refspec definitionJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 12, 2025
  19. 1/4 doc: git-push: clarify introJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 12, 2025
  20. Junio C HamanoSep 12, 2025
  21. Julia EvansSep 15, 2025
  22. Junio C HamanoSep 16, 2025
  23. Julia EvansSep 16, 2025
  24. Ben KnobleSep 16, 2025
  25. Junio C HamanoSep 16, 2025
  26. Junio C HamanoSep 17, 2025
  27. Julia EvansSep 18, 2025
  28. 2/4 doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetchJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 12, 2025
  29. Junio C HamanoSep 12, 2025
  30. Julia EvansSep 15, 2025
  31. Junio C HamanoSep 15, 2025
  32. Julia EvansSep 15, 2025
  33. Junio C HamanoSep 16, 2025
  34. Junio C HamanoSep 16, 2025
  35. Junio C HamanoSep 16, 2025
  36. Julia EvansSep 18, 2025
  37. 3/4 doc: git-push: clarify "where to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 12, 2025
  38. Junio C HamanoSep 12, 2025
  39. Junio C HamanoSep 12, 2025
  40. Julia EvansSep 15, 2025
  41. 4/4 doc: git-push: clarify "what to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 12, 2025
  42. 0/4 doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION sectionJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 23, 2025
  43. 1/4 doc: git-push: clarify introJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 23, 2025
  44. 2/4 doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetchJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 23, 2025
  45. Junio C HamanoSep 24, 2025
  46. Julia EvansSep 30, 2025
  47. 3/4 doc: git-push: clarify "where to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 23, 2025
  48. 4/4 doc: git-push: clarify "what to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 23, 2025
  49. Junio C HamanoSep 24, 2025
  50. Julia EvansSep 25, 2025
  51. Junio C HamanoSep 25, 2025
  52. Julia EvansSep 25, 2025
  53. Junio C HamanoSep 26, 2025
  54. Junio C HamanoSep 26, 2025
  55. Julia EvansSep 26, 2025
  56. Junio C HamanoSep 26, 2025
  57. Julia EvansSep 26, 2025
  58. Junio C HamanoSep 26, 2025
  59. D. Ben KnobleSep 28, 2025
  60. D. Ben KnobleSep 23, 2025
  61. 0/5 doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION sectionJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 30, 2025
  62. 1/5 doc: git-push: clarify introJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 30, 2025
  63. 2/5 doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetchJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 30, 2025
  64. Junio C HamanoSep 30, 2025
  65. Julia EvansOct 3, 2025
  66. Junio C HamanoOct 3, 2025
  67. Jean-Noël AVILAOct 1, 2025
  68. Julia EvansOct 3, 2025
  69. 3/5 doc: git-push: clarify "where to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 30, 2025
  70. 4/5 doc: git-push: clarify "what to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 30, 2025
  71. Junio C HamanoSep 30, 2025
  72. Jean-Noël AVILAOct 1, 2025
  73. 5/5 doc: git-push: Add explanation of `git push origin main`Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Sep 30, 2025
  74. D. Ben KnobleOct 1, 2025
  75. Julia EvansOct 3, 2025
  76. D. Ben KnobleOct 1, 2025
  77. 0/5 doc: git-push: clarify DESCRIPTION sectionJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 6, 2025
  78. 1/5 doc: git-push: clarify introJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 6, 2025
  79. 2/5 doc: add an UPSTREAM BRANCHES section to pull/push/fetchJulia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 6, 2025
  80. Kristoffer HaugsbakkOct 7, 2025
  81. Julia EvansOct 7, 2025
  82. D. Ben KnobleOct 7, 2025
  83. 3/5 doc: git-push: clarify "where to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 6, 2025
  84. 4/5 doc: git-push: clarify "what to push"Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 6, 2025
  85. 5/5 doc: git-push: Add explanation of `git push origin main`Julia Evans via GitGitGadget, Oct 6, 2025
  86. D. Ben KnobleOct 6, 2025
  87. Junio C HamanoOct 6, 2025

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