From: Ron Garret <ron1@flownet.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:50:30 GMT
Subject: Re: [PATCH] checkout: warn about 'branch name' rather than 'local branch'
Message-ID: <ron1-15D04D.13503029012010@news.gmane.org>
In-Reply-To: <alpine.LFD.2.00.1001291621020.1681@xanadu.home>

In article <alpine.LFD.2.00.1001291621020.1681@xanadu.home>,
 Nicolas Pitre <nico@fluxnic.net> wrote:

> On Fri, 29 Jan 2010, Sverre Rabbelier wrote:
> 
> > These days, you can say "git checkout topic" to automagically create
> > a local "topic" branch that forks from "origin/topic" remote tracking
> > branch when you have one, thanks to Dscho's UI improvement ideas. As
> > such it is more appropriate to say that the user is checking out
> > something that is not a branch name, rather than saying it is not a
> > 'local branch'.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Sverre Rabbelier <srabbelier@gmail.com>
> 
> For the record, I'm providing a NAK.  First I don't agree with the UI 
> "improvement" if there is no way to check out a remote branch without 
> creating soon-to-be-stall local branches with the same name.
> 
> Next, the message can be made yet more clear and give the user more of a 
> hint with what is going on.  Something like:
> 
> 	"%s is not a local branch head: creating a detached HEAD\n"
> 
> plus the remaining clue lines.  This way people will have a much greater 
> chance of understanding what state they're in, and a simple Google 
> search for detached HEAD gives you the Git manual page with the needed 
> info.

I agree that would be much better.

rg