merge vs. rebase question

[Dennis Putnam <dap1@bellsouth.net>]

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As a git noob I am having trouble understanding when to use which
commands. I have a repository (bare) on my Linux server. I also created
a build directory as a local repository. In my build script I do a 'git
pull' to make sure the build directory is up to date. No changes are
made to my source so this repository never does an 'add' or 'commit'.
When I run my script with 'pull', the output indicates that changes were
found and seems to have pulled them into the local directory. However,
when I look at the resulting source, none of the expected changes show
up. I then tried a 'fetch' and 'rebase'. That worked but I don't
understand why. I thought 'pull' did a 'fetch' and a 'merge' so I don't
understand why a 'fetch' and 'rebase' worked but 'fetch' and 'merge' did
not. Unless my understanding of what 'pull' does is wrong. In my case,
what should I be using in my script to assure that the build directory
is current?

Thanks.


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