Re: 'git branch' when origin branch with same name exists

Ryan Lortie [off-list ref] writes:

In this case, the user wanted to checkout a branch of a module.  They did:

  git clone git://git.gnome.org/gtk+
  cd gtk+
  git branch gtk-3-4

Obviously this is a user error, but it's a pretty innocent one, and
puts the user in a bad state.  When they figure they should have typed
"git checkout gtk-3-4" it is already too late -- they will be taken
onto their locally-created copy of the master branch.

So feature request: 'git branch' should not allow creating a local
branch that has the same name as a branch that already exists on
origin' (or any remote?) without some sort of --force flag.

How does this fit with the fact that git has forever(?) created a
'master' branch when cloning, and usually points it at origin/master
too?

I honestly haven't decided whether I should like or hate your proposal,
but ISTM that outlawing an operation that git does on every clone is a
bit moot.

-- 
Thomas Rast
trast@{inf,student}.ethz.ch