Re: [PATCH v4] doc: checkout: rewrite detached HEAD state explanation

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

Julia Evans <julia@jvns.ca> writes:

>> I guess it requires a developer's mindset and imagination to
>> appreciate why detached HEAD is useful while spelunking.  We often
>> phrase the act of visiting random commits (often older ones) as
>> "sight-seeing", but in reality, even when you are mostly looking,
>> you do want to futz with things you see there.
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by "it requires a developer's mindset", in my 
> time working as a developer using Git I never ran into a case where I 
> would have needed to clobber a branch in this way :)

Sightseeing is not just going to look and see, but touching and
breaking things.  That kind of curiosity was what I meant by a
developer's mindset.

And of course, I never ran into a case where I needed to clobber a
branch, either.  That is why I do not work on other people's topic
branches to begin with, and make use of detached HEAD instead.

In any case, now we have a shared better understanding of where
"where your current work started" and "will be the parent of your
next commit" came from.  Hopefully the next iteration will become
clearer on these points?  I think the central difference is that you
seem to consider detached HEAD state is only about pure sightseeing
while it was designed to allow touching and breaking.  If the user
is not making any changes, of course it does not make sense to talk
about "your current changes" or "next commit".  But detached HEAD is
not limited to such a world view.

Thanks.