Re: [PATCH] pull: allow branch.<name>.rebase to override pull.ff=only

>
> On Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM Alex Henrie <alexhenrie24@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 4, 2025 at 8:11 PM D. Ben Knoble
> > <ben.knoble+github@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > When running "git pull" with the following configuration options, we
> > > fail to merge divergent branches:
> > >
> > > - pull.ff=only
> > > - pull.rebase (unset)
> > > - branch.<current_branch>.rebase=true
> > >
> > > Yet it seems that the user intended to make rebase the default for the
> > > current branch while using --ff-only for non-rebase pulls.
> >
> > You make an interesting point. The idea is that more specific options
> > override less specific options. In this case, "fast-forward only" is
> > more specific than "rebase" (because rebasing might or might not
> > fast-forward), but "my branch" is also more specific than "all
> > branches". So which option should win? 🤔
>
> Precisely! I think "my branch" is most specific here, but Junio's
> argument is (if I understand it) that pull.ff=only is _stronger_,
> regardless of specificity.

> > On Wed, Feb 5, 2025 at 2:14 PM D. Ben Knoble
> > <ben.knoble+github@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Is there, then, an existing combination that means roughly to treat
> > > `git pull` with no other options like this:
> > > - if not rebasing, forbid merging and be equivalent to --ff-only
> > > - if rebasing is requested (because of branch.name.rebase or --rebase
> > > or …?), allow it
> >
> > I think what we're missing is a branch.<name>.ffOnly option to make a
> > particular branch fast-forward only. Such an option would be
> > especially useful for the master branch, but you could set it on all
> > of your branches except the ones that you want to rebase. We could
> > even have a branch.autoSetupFfOnly option to turn on ffOnly
> > automatically for new branches.
>
> That is probably something that is missing, and might solve the
> problem, but I don't know that these in particular are something I
> need (read: want to implement).
>
> How do you (and Junio, and others) feel about
> pull.ff=onlyUnlessOverridden? The meaning would be "like --ff-only
> except when branch.<name>.rebase says otherwise."
>
> The name of the value can be workshopped (I initially thought of
> "override" as a short value, but it may be too short to convey its
> intended meaning). Perhaps "onlyOr[Branch]Rebase"?
>
> I think this would be a smaller change that meets my needs without
> changing the meaning of ff=only.