Re: user manual question

From: Sitaram Chamarty <sitaramc@gmail.com>
Date: Dec 29, 2008, 17:27 UTC
Message-ID: <slrngli24v.8cd.sitaramc@sitaramc.homelinux.net>
In-Reply-To: <gjauel$94s$4@ger.gmane.org>

On 2008-12-29, Zorba <cr@altmore.co.uk> wrote:

> so a detached HEAD is just a HEAD that is not sitting on a tip ?

yes...

Show 5 quoted lines

> i.e. if I do $ git reset --hard HEAD^
>
> ...pointing HEAD to the previous committ
>
> this is a detached HEAD

...but no. This is because git reset moves the tip of the branch also (in this case, backward by one commit from the previous). In effect, you're saying "discard my latest commit and roll back by one".

"git checkout HEAD^" would get you a detached head though. In this case you're saying "let the branch be where it is, but let HEAD move up one level". So HEAD is now NOT at a tip, and it'a a detached head.

It's instructive to run "gitk --all" when you're doing these experiments sometimes.

> (I thought a detached HEAD was maybe a head somewhere on another branch not 
> "reachable", i.e. a sibling, not a ancestor...
> or something like that)

no no that's just another branch that's all.

All this is pretty confusing in the beginning, but if you don't lose your head, it'll all become clear eventually.

[What's that they say? Oh yeah "thank you ladies and gentlemen I'll be here all night"!]