Re: git push doesn't use local branch name as default

From: Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
To: Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com>
Cc: Mathias Kunter <mathiaskunter@gmail.com>,
	Git Mailing List <git@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: git push doesn't use local branch name as default
Date: Fri, 28 May 2021 10:44:30 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <CABPp-BEd2GAOSSAaUwMLhftiKsbFXmuszH_fXBbTY9nU=yWg9w@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <60b126e8cf42e_51908208d4@natae.notmuch>

On Fri, May 28, 2021 at 10:22 AM Felipe Contreras
<felipe.contreras@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Elijah Newren wrote:
> > > If there is no upstream, then there also is no "remote I normally pull
> > > from", and thus, according to the doc, `simple` should actually work
> > > like `current` in this case. Am I wrong here?
> >
> > The relevant code is
> >
> >     return (fetch_remote && fetch_remote != remote);
> >
> > so you only get the "current" behavior when fetch_remote is non-NULL.
>
> fetch_remote is practically never non-NULL.
>
> fetch_remote is remote_get(NULL), which is basically the equivalent of:
>
> remote_get(remote_for_branch(current_branch, ...));
>
> Typically when an upstream branch is not configured, this is the same
> as:
>
> remote_get("origin");
>
> The only time fetch_remote is NULL is when the configured remote is
> invalid.

Ah, thanks for correcting and clarifying here.

>
> So you don't get the "current" behavior when pushing to "origin".
>
> Perhaps:
>
> --- a/Documentation/config/push.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/config/push.txt
> @@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ push.default::
>    different from the local one.
>  +
>  When pushing to a remote that is different from the remote you normally
> -pull from, work as `current`.  This is the safest option and is suited
> -for beginners.
> +pull from (typically "origin"), work as `current`.  This is the safest option
> +and is suited for beginners.

This is certainly an improvement.  I wonder if it might still be
considered ambiguous or hard to parse, though.  If so, maybe something
like:

If you have a default remote configured for the current branch and are
pushing to a remote other than that one (or if you have no default
remote configured and are pushing to a remote other than 'origin'),
then work as 'current'.

It may also be helpful to move the "This is the safest option and is
suited for beginners" out of its current paragraph and combine it with
the "This mode has become the default" in the next paragraph.