Re: VC mode and git

[Harald Hanche-Olsen <hanche@math.ntnu.no>]

Richard Stallman wrote:
> You had recommended
>
>      git add lisp/ChangeLog
>      git commit
>
> so I tried that.  git add completed with no output.
> git commit showed me a monster list of files with
> changes to be committed, and asked me for the log message.
> I killed it.
>
> What next?

That monster list of files is expected. If I am right, it reflects the 
changes made to origin/master, that is the central repository, *relative 
to your local master branch*.

So go ahead and commit. Give it a random commit message if you wish.
I promise you, you can back out of this if needed. I'll tell you how 
below, in fact.

Next, run: git diff origin/master

If I am right, you will see the changes you made, and nothing else.
If so, fix up your commit message to something more reasonable with git 
commit --amend, and you're good to go.

Assuming this is so, you will have fallen behind the central repo, so 
you need once more to do

git pull
# fix conflicts, if any
git push

and your're done.

Assuming you're still concerned because the output of that git diff 
command is not what you expected, here is what to do:

git branch wtf

That will create a new branch named “wtf” (you can call it something 
less offensive if you wish) to use for further diagnostics and recovery 
efforts. It will be identical to your now current master branch. Then

git reset --hard master^

That will reset the master branch right back where you had it before the 
last commit, but it will now be in a clean state. All the changes that 
were in your index and working tree are still in the “wtf” branch. At 
this point, ask for further help. I am going to suggest, if it comes to 
this, that you push the “wtf” branch to a temporary branch on the 
central repo so that more eyeballs can get on the case and make an 
accurate diagnosis.

– Harald