Re: Git rescue mission

From: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
To: Kalle Pokki <kalle.pokki@iki.fi>
Cc: Bill Lear <rael@zopyra.com>, git@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Git rescue mission
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 13:23:32 -0800 (PST)	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0702081321040.8424@woody.linux-foundation.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <87fy9gz9vu.fsf@host94.eke.fi>

On Thu, 8 Feb 2007, Kalle Pokki wrote:
> 
> I usually undo a pull by throwing away just the merge commit by
> 
>         git reset --hard HEAD^

Don't do this.

If the merge just fast-forwarded, you'll do the wrong thing.

So yes, it _works_, but it only works if you actually ended up having a 
real merge. In contrast, the ORIG_HEAD thing always works.

ORIG_HEAD is also particularly useful for doing things like "ok, what did 
I get from that pull?" especially when you track somebody elses work (in 
which case it will basically _always_ be a fast-forward). So I do

	gitk ORIG_HEAD..

in git almost every time I pull from Junio's git thing, just because it's 
a wonderful way to see what has changed, if you're interested in that kind 
of detail.

		Linus