From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Junio C Hamano Subject: Re: "remote-tracking branch"? Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:31:32 -0700 Message-ID: <7vr4tl7qu3.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org> References: <4FD6068D.1010509@xiplink.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: Git Mailing List To: Marc Branchaud X-From: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Mon Jun 11 18:31:49 2012 Return-path: Envelope-to: gcvg-git-2@plane.gmane.org Received: from vger.kernel.org ([209.132.180.67]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Se7Wl-00012r-6Q for gcvg-git-2@plane.gmane.org; Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:31:39 +0200 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1755279Ab2FKQbf (ORCPT ); Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:31:35 -0400 Received: from b-pb-sasl-quonix.pobox.com ([208.72.237.35]:53598 "EHLO smtp.pobox.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1755083Ab2FKQbe (ORCPT ); Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:31:34 -0400 Received: from smtp.pobox.com (unknown [127.0.0.1]) by b-sasl-quonix.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2CB4C83A7; Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:31:34 -0400 (EDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed; d=pobox.com; h=from:to:cc :subject:references:date:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version :content-type; s=sasl; bh=dj7UBX3Ze9yxlE8NDvoSlyr95cE=; b=P27OaS gJLoOAaM4Li5YqBm5UwGmYeiqSvejuTS7C1JP0qs4MaGcHDE1Be+gOoPuszMvDkw PEV3F6qXJ6QhYpereDqPyxNXTZbmc8odNgeQAgraUqYAnsnYYLEzF0Ityov+ZtHB y3Z6zlzMOCfAC7a+jx17o7LGJklwO2hjuEEmU= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=pobox.com; h=from:to:cc :subject:references:date:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version :content-type; q=dns; s=sasl; b=Rm8LP6LS+/351PxAZZMiwGlvbSPYwy4M S3/b2n9Nop2H8g24OSo7rlBXlbufpzAO0BPD7meh3eV5Z9o7lmOZ58qKx50nwqdk Yi5RjKKHzHFetH1Ge20dSzud1n1402O0i+x4yLDLpBHqBjEIFJI8TbeXtQE101SJ aYmCbmAZ4U0= Received: from b-pb-sasl-quonix.pobox.com (unknown [127.0.0.1]) by b-sasl-quonix.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 23BF183A5; Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:31:34 -0400 (EDT) Received: from pobox.com (unknown [98.234.214.94]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by b-sasl-quonix.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id B149483A1; Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:31:33 -0400 (EDT) In-Reply-To: <4FD6068D.1010509@xiplink.com> (Marc Branchaud's message of "Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:54:05 -0400") User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.2 (gnu/linux) X-Pobox-Relay-ID: E8318D02-B3E2-11E1-895A-FC762E706CDE-77302942!b-pb-sasl-quonix.pobox.com Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Archived-At: Marc Branchaud writes: > When I first read this I was confused by the term "remote-tracking branch". > I see that the docs for "git remote" and "git branch" use this term for > branches like 'origin/master', as does the glossary. > ... > I feel my interpretation is reinforced by the --track/--no-track options in > "git branch". They were added long after "remote tracking branch" terminology has been established to mean the copies of last observed values of refs at remotes, and back then nobody noticed that these misnamed options were potential sources of this kind of confusion. If anything, these options need to be renamed if you want to avoid confusion. Unfortunately, no concensus terminology for them exist; I find myself calling them "the branch you integrate with upstream's master", "the branch you forked from origin's topic", etc.