In an article that has been cited in StackOverflow a few times (e.g. 1) , the author discusses the asymmetry between git push and git pull, and mentions the following: Update: Thanks to David Ongaro, who points out below that since git 1.7.4.2, the recommended value for the push.default option is upstream rather than tracking, although tracking can still be used as a deprecated synonym. The commit message that describes that change is nice, since it suggests that there is an effort underway to deprecate the term “track” in the context of setting this association with the upstream branch in a remote repository. (The totally different meanings of “track” in git branch --track and “remote-tracking branches” has long irritated me when trying to introduce git to people.) What is exactly the difference that he is referring to with: The notion of "tracking" in git branch --track The notion of "tracking" in remote-tracking branches in the last sentence?