Re: Git rescue mission

From: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Date: Feb 8, 2007, 21:23 UTC
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0702081321040.8424@woody.linux-foundation.org>
In-Reply-To: <87fy9gz9vu.fsf@host94.eke.fi>

On Thu, 8 Feb 2007, Kalle Pokki wrote:

> 
> I usually undo a pull by throwing away just the merge commit by
> 
>         git reset --hard HEAD^

Don't do this.

If the merge just fast-forwarded, you'll do the wrong thing.

So yes, it _works_, but it only works if you actually ended up having a real merge. In contrast, the ORIG_HEAD thing always works.

ORIG_HEAD is also particularly useful for doing things like "ok, what did I get from that pull?" especially when you track somebody elses work (in which case it will basically _always_ be a fast-forward). So I do

	gitk ORIG_HEAD..

in git almost every time I pull from Junio's git thing, just because it's a wonderful way to see what has changed, if you're interested in that kind of detail.

		Linus

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