Request for D core devs: git pull --rebase

[Jonathan M Davis]

On Saturday, November 05, 2011 15:10:52 Jonathan M Davis wrote:
> On Saturday, November 05, 2011 22:38:03 Alex Rønne Petersen wrote:
> > Hi folks!
> > 
> > This is a friendly request for D core devs to use 'git pull --rebase'
> > instead of just plain 'git pull' when pulling remote changes into local
> > repositories. The reason for this is that it takes any outstanding
> > commits in your local tree, unrolls them, pulls in the remote changes,
> > and reapplies your local commits *without creating a merge commit*. This
> > helps keep history clean and easier to navigate, making everyone's life
> > that much easier. :)
> > 
> > For example:
> > 
> > $ git commit -m "my local stuff"
> > $ git pull --rebase origin master
> > $ git push origin master
> 
> I would point out that for druntime and Phobos, most merging is done by
> using the merge button that github provides, so most merges are done doing
> whatever that does. Doing anything else is more work. That's not to say
> that there isn't value in it, but unless the result is considerably
> negative (and I don't see why a stray extra commit for the merge really
> causes issues), then the Phobos devs are almost certainly just going to
> continue to use the merge button, because it's less work for them.
> 
> For dmd, I don't know what Walter does exactly. I think that he does much
> more by hand, so that process is likely quite different.

So, I should probably add the question more explicitly, what exactly does 
using --rebase gain other than not having the extra commit message? Why is it 
better?

- Jonathan M Davis