On Fri, Aug 16, 2024 at 09:55:00PM +0000, brian m. carlson wrote:
> > I would propose that running `git fetch` should also update remote/HEAD. In
> > case there is a possibility that it is useful in some cases that remote/HEAD is
> > actually different from whatever is set in the remote repository as the default
> > branch, I think a setting for opt-out would be better, and the default
> > behaviour should be essentially always running `set-head -a`.
> >
> > My current workaround is an alias:
> > fetchall = !git fetch --all && git remote | xargs -i git remote set-head -a {}
> >
> > which works for me, but I think it would be more elegant not to have to do this.
>
> I believe this would be a valuable change. I know a lot of other users
> want this features as well. However, I think it needs to be opt-in,
> since there are some cases where you want `git fetch` to specifically
> fetch only certain objects or don't want to modify the refs. For
> example, I know some server-side implementations use `git fetch`
> internally and require refs to be updated in a special way, and they
> would not appreciate extra refs appearing.
There was discussion a while ago that proposed a tri-state config
option: never update the remote head on fetch, always do so, or add it
only when missing:
https://lore.kernel.org/git/20201118091219.3341585-1-felipe.contreras@xxxxxxxxx/
I think that is a good first step, as we could stop there and leave the
default at "never" without any compatibility issues (and/or contemplate
a change in the default as a separate step).
I don't think the patch in that thread is likely to go anywhere at this
point, but if somebody wanted to pick it up, I think everybody was
positive on the general direction.
-Peff
