[seba_dos1]

> but not if it's checked out

...and for a good reason that should be apparent to anyone who understands git's model (HEAD points to a ref in this case, so if you suddenly change what that ref points to without updating the working tree you create an inconsistency).

You can do that manually of course (with `git update-ref` or even a text editor), but then you get to clean up the mess yourself.

[Certhas]

To me that looks like git is leaking implementation details left and right.

So much for "a branch is simply a pointer to a commit"...

[seba_dos1]

Do you react the same way when an OS prevents you from writing to a file with an exclusive lock placed on it? So much for "a file is simply a collection of data stored as a single object"...

If a git repo was purely a collection of meaningless pointers and graph nodes, git would be a graph manipulation utility, not a version control system. The fact that some of those pointers have a meaning is what makes it useful and it doesn't contradict the fact that what you're working on is still just a bunch of pointers and nodes.

[thfuran]

Couldn't head just detach without any consistency issue?

[seba_dos1]

Theoretically it could, but that would be a rather surprising side effect. You could also check the new revision out and leave HEAD intact. Which one of those outcomes you would expect and why?

"error: ref in use by higher layers" makes much more sense to me in this case.

[Certhas]

If you buy the "git is just a tree of commits and pointers" mental model it's absolutely not a surprising side effect but would be the logical thing to expect. I moved a pointer to a commit around, why would that change where HEAD is pointed.

Turns out it's a tree of commits and pointers to within that tree and a master pointer that come in two versions: pointing towards the pointers or pointing towards the tree. And pointers behave very differently when the master pointer is pointing to them...

Elegant. Simple. :P

[seba_dos1]

> I moved a pointer to a commit around, why would that change where HEAD is pointed.

...because HEAD points to what's checked out. This pointer does not just exist and hang around, it has its semantics. Not understanding that reveals flaws in your mental model.

Besides, the side affect you find "not surprising" here is... rewriting HEAD to change what it points to. Then you ask "why would that change where HEAD is pointed". Sounds like you may be confused. Are you forgetting that a ref may point not just to a commit, but also to another ref? This is the whole idea behind branches after all, having HEAD point to a ref is exactly what makes branches semantically different from tags - if you don't understand it then no wonder you're confused.

(protip: if you find git's "pointers to pointers" confusing, perhaps because in C a "pointer" and "pointer to pointer" are separate types that make multiple dereferencing steps explicit, think of them as symlinks instead and it should become clearer - that's in fact how symrefs used to be implemented in the past)

When a pointer is in use by higher layers, a good UI will prevent you from making direct changes underneath it unless you force it or go low-level enough for it to not matter. The only sin of git I can see here is that `git` command provides you both high-level and low-level interfaces to manipulate the data structure you're working on with no clear distinction for the user.

[thfuran]

It doesn't seem surprising to me. It probably ought to print ought a warning that head has detached though, like some other commands already do. That error message on the other hand seems very unhelpful. It's lingo that only makes sense if you're neck deep in the plumbing.

[seba_dos1]

There's no such message there, it was a description of a situation written by me and it doesn't even actually match the git's lingo. Should have made it clearer I guess.

It is surprising. You wanted to edit the value of `main` ref, yet suddenly you now edited `HEAD` too without meaning it. Bailing out and letting you actually decide whether you want to do it or not is the correct thing to do for a high-level command like `git branch` (alternatively it could ask you what to do interactively). If you don't want such safeguards and you know what you're doing, use `git update-ref` which will happily let you break whatever you want.