Re: [PATCH 00/28] Use main as default branch name

> Philip Oakley <philipoakley@iee.email> writes:
>
>> On 19/11/2020 01:51, Junio C Hamano wrote:
>>> Philip Oakley <philipoakley@iee.email> writes:
>>>
>>>> An alternative in the other direction is to go with the 'not currently
>>>> on any branch' (detached at nowhere) but then require users to
>>>> deliberately create their first branch with their chosen name. This
>>>> moves the 'backward incompatibility' to a different place, which may be
>>>> easier to manage.
>>> As has already been mentioned by Peff, I do not think that is a
>>> workable alternative, especially given that people are generally
>>> afraid of and easily get confused by being on a detached HEAD.
>> Yes, our use of the technical phrase 'detached HEAD' is confusing,
>> compared with the more pleasant 'not on any branch', or 'not at a branch
>> tip'. Such is the curse of knowledge.
> To me "not on a branch [tip]" is also confusing, as in fact you are, as
> is easily seen after you perform a few commits, and now HEAD points
> directly to the tip of the branch (that has no other references).
>
> I wonder why Git didn't rather adopt "unnamed branch" or "nameless
> branch" to describe this mode of operation?