Git config and fast-forward merge

💻 Tech

In git, you can configure your git pull to only allow fast-forward merge by setting this

[pull]
ff = only

A fast-forward merge happens when the branch being merged has a linear history with the branch it is being merged into. git pull under the hood is a git fetch followed by a git merge. Now, if a “true merge” happens, git pull is aborted. A “true merge” happens when there are divergent commits between the two branches. In turn, this maintains a cleaner and linear history.