Re: [PATCH v2] push: point to 'git pull' and 'git push --force' in case of non-fast forward

Matthieu Moy [off-list ref] writes:

Teemu Likonen [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

On 2009-08-08 09:51 (+0200), Matthieu Moy wrote:

quoted

'git push' failing because of non-fast forward is a very common situation,
and a beginner does not necessarily understand "fast forward" immediately.

quoted

+		if (nonfastforward) {
+			printf("Push was rejected because it would not result in a fast forward:\n"
+			       "Merge in the remote changes (using git pull) before pushing yours,\n"
+			       "or use git push --force to discard the remote changes.\n"
+			       "See 'non-fast forward' section of 'git push --help' for details.\n");
+		}

I'd like to add that some projects that use Git in (partially)
centralized manner prefer "git pull --rebase" before "git push".

Right, but I don't think this error message is the place to discuss
that. Anything involving rebasing should be taken with care, and
pointing the user to it in a short sentence sounds like "try shooting
yourself in the foot, and read the man page if it hurts" ;-).

Instead of saying "Merge in", we could say "Integrate" to cover both
practices.  I also happen to think that the mention of --force falls into
the same category as "try shooting and then study if it hurgs".

So how about phrasing it like this?

    Non-fast forward pushes were rejected because you would discard remote
    changes you have not seen.  Integrate them with your changes and then
    push again. See 'non-fast forward' section of 'git push --help'.

I think you can throw in a discussion on --force to the manual page, too.