Create non fast-forward commits as default

Question

I usually want to create non fast-forward commits.
I know I can do that using the --no-ff flag, but I tend to forgot that :(

Is there a way to set this as default?
Currently I'm using Git GUI (on Windows), is there any hook that could be used?

Answer 1

I usually want the same, so I set merge.ff to false in my ~/.gitconfig:

git config --global merge.ff false

Unfortunately, that means all merges will be non-fast-forward... even those coming from your origin. So I use another alias to help fast-forward the updates I do want:

[alias]
    ff = "!sh -c 'git merge --ff --ff-only ${1:-\"@{u}\"}' -"

This way I can do my fetch, and then git ff to fast-forward the master branch. I've also been making use of a script to help keep my local branches up-to-date, called git-ffwd.

So the work of updating, I've allowed fast-forward updates (and want them), but in the default merge case it will always generate a merge commit. I've found this to be a useful way to work.

This is the workflow from my command line... unfortunately, I'm not sure if GUIs cooperate well with arbitrary Git commands. :-( But I've found the command line more useful in getting the workflow that I want.