git version 1.7.1, Mac OS X 10.6.3, largish repo (42K files, 35K commits, well packed ~ 1GB). Difference between origin and HEAD is a single commit. $ time git diff --stat origin >/dev/null real 0m0.942s user 0m0.713s sys 0m0.223s $ time git diff --stat origin >/dev/null real 0m0.944s user 0m0.712s sys 0m0.227s $ time git diff --stat origin >/dev/null real 0m0.944s user 0m0.712s sys 0m0.225s $ time git diff --stat origin HEAD >/dev/null real 0m0.022s user 0m0.006s sys 0m0.012s $ time git diff --stat origin HEAD >/dev/null real 0m0.022s user 0m0.006s sys 0m0.013s $ time git diff --stat origin HEAD >/dev/null real 0m0.023s user 0m0.006s sys 0m0.013s These should be identical commands, so why is the "origin HEAD" form running an order of magnitude faster? j. -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html