how to start with non-master branch?

how to start with non-master branch?

[Rustom Mody]

I want my first commit to be on a non-master branch.
So after the git init I do
$ git checkout -b newbranch

I get
fatal: You are on a branch yet to be born

Of course I can get by with making the first commit on master and then
switching.

But wondering if I am missing something basic?

Re: how to start with non-master branch?

[Dirk Süsserott]

Am 19.07.2009 14:53 schrieb Rustom Mody:
> I want my first commit to be on a non-master branch.
> So after the git init I do
> $ git checkout -b newbranch
> 
> I get
> fatal: You are on a branch yet to be born
> 
> Of course I can get by with making the first commit on master and then
> switching.
> 
> But wondering if I am missing something basic?
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What about renaming the "initial master", i.e.:
git init
git add .
git commit -m "intial checkin"
git branch -m non-master-branch

and later adding a master just as any other branch, i.e.
git checkout -b master

Unfortunately renaming doesn't work before the first commit, I got an 
error similar to yours.

I think the name "master" is just a convention and there's nothing 
special about that branch. Could've been called "main" or sth. as well 
when Linus invented it.

Dirk

Re: how to start with non-master branch?

[Sean Estabrooks]

On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:23:32 +0530
Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Rustom,

> I want my first commit to be on a non-master branch.
> So after the git init I do
> $ git checkout -b newbranch
> 
> I get
> fatal: You are on a branch yet to be born

No branches exist in a new repository that you've just init'ed.  If you run
"git branch" you'll see that no branches are listed.  You must make an
initial commit before a branch will be "born".   Since "git checkout"
needs you to supply a branch/commit to operate, you can't use it to create
the first branch in a repo.

When you make the initial commit in a repo the HEAD reference will
determine which branch is created.   So the following ugly looking
command will allow you to change the name to something other than 
master before making your first commit:

	$ git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/newbranch

> Of course I can get by with making the first commit on master and then
> switching.

That is probably the simplest thing to do, rename master after the initial
commit:

	$ git commit -m "initial commit"
	$ git branch -m newbranch

HTH,
Sean

Re: how to start with non-master branch?

[Charles Bailey]

On Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 06:23:32PM +0530, Rustom Mody wrote:
> I want my first commit to be on a non-master branch.
> So after the git init I do
> $ git checkout -b newbranch
> 
> I get
> fatal: You are on a branch yet to be born
> 
> Of course I can get by with making the first commit on master and then
> switching.
> 
> But wondering if I am missing something basic?

The problem with git checkout -b newbranch is that it tries to create
a new branch based on your current HEAD. As you have no commits, your
HEAD doesn't point at a commit ant this can't work. To change the name
of your current branch before you've made any commits, you can use the
symbolic-ref command to update your HEAD to point to a differently
named branch (that also doesn't yet exist). Try this:

git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/non-master

and then carry on adding and committing as before.

Charles.

-- 
Charles Bailey
http://ccgi.hashpling.plus.com/blog/

Re: how to start with non-master branch?

[Michael J Gruber]

Rustom Mody venit, vidit, dixit 19.07.2009 14:53:
> I want my first commit to be on a non-master branch.
> So after the git init I do
> $ git checkout -b newbranch
> 
> I get
> fatal: You are on a branch yet to be born
> 
> Of course I can get by with making the first commit on master and then
> switching.
> 
> But wondering if I am missing something basic?

You can do

git symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/newbranch

and your first commit will be to that branch. (checkout as above tries
to branch off the non-existing branch master.)

Cheers,
Michael