commit 5be5f36fbdf9da232dbdea82d03d31183f7aa678
Author: Kirill A. Korinskiy <catap@catap.ru>
Date:   Tue Aug 25 00:42:30 2009 +0400

    Add option -b/--branch to clone for select a new HEAD
    
    Sometimes (especially on production systems) we need to use only one
    remote branch for building software. It's really annoying to clone
    origin and then switch branch by hand everytime. So this patch
    provides functionality to clone a remote branch with one command
    without using checkout after clone.
    
    Signed-off-by: Kirill A. Korinskiy <catap@catap.ru>

diff --git a/Documentation/git-clone.txt b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
index 2c63a0f..5cd106c 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-clone.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-clone.txt
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@ objects from the source repository into a pack in the cloned repository.
 	Instead of using the remote name 'origin' to keep track
 	of the upstream repository, use <name>.
 
+--branch <name>::
+-b <name>::
+	Create a local branch head for <name> instead of the branch
+	referenced by the remote repos HEAD.
+
 --upload-pack <upload-pack>::
 -u <upload-pack>::
 	When given, and the repository to clone from is accessed
diff --git a/builtin-clone.c b/builtin-clone.c
index 32dea74..91392a3 100644
--- a/builtin-clone.c
+++ b/builtin-clone.c
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ static int option_quiet, option_no_checkout, option_bare, option_mirror;
 static int option_local, option_no_hardlinks, option_shared;
 static char *option_template, *option_reference, *option_depth;
 static char *option_origin = NULL;
+static char *option_branch = NULL;
 static char *option_upload_pack = "git-upload-pack";
 static int option_verbose;
 
@@ -65,6 +66,8 @@ static struct option builtin_clone_options[] = {
 		   "reference repository"),
 	OPT_STRING('o', "origin", &option_origin, "branch",
 		   "use <branch> instead of 'origin' to track upstream"),
+	OPT_STRING('b', "branch", &option_branch, "branch",
+		   "use <branch> from upstream as HEAD"),
 	OPT_STRING('u', "upload-pack", &option_upload_pack, "path",
 		   "path to git-upload-pack on the remote"),
 	OPT_STRING(0, "depth", &option_depth, "depth",
@@ -347,8 +350,8 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	const char *repo_name, *repo, *work_tree, *git_dir;
 	char *path, *dir;
 	int dest_exists;
-	const struct ref *refs, *head_points_at, *remote_head, *mapped_refs;
-	struct strbuf key = STRBUF_INIT, value = STRBUF_INIT;
+	const struct ref *refs, *head_points_at, *remote_head = NULL, *mapped_refs;
+	struct strbuf key = STRBUF_INIT, value = STRBUF_INIT, branch_head = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct strbuf branch_top = STRBUF_INIT, reflog_msg = STRBUF_INIT;
 	struct transport *transport = NULL;
 	char *src_ref_prefix = "refs/heads/";
@@ -518,8 +521,22 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 		mapped_refs = write_remote_refs(refs, refspec, reflog_msg.buf);
 
-		remote_head = find_ref_by_name(refs, "HEAD");
-		head_points_at = guess_remote_head(remote_head, mapped_refs, 0);
+		if (option_branch) {
+			strbuf_addf(&branch_head, "%s%s", src_ref_prefix, option_branch);
+
+			remote_head = find_ref_by_name(refs, branch_head.buf);
+		}
+
+		if (!remote_head) {
+			if (option_branch)
+				warning("Remote branch %s not found in upstream %s"
+					", using HEAD instead",
+					option_branch, option_origin);
+
+			remote_head = find_ref_by_name(refs, "HEAD");
+		}
+
+		head_points_at = guess_remote_head(remote_head, mapped_refs, 1);
 	}
 	else {
 		warning("You appear to have cloned an empty repository.");
diff --git a/t/t5706-clone-branch.sh b/t/t5706-clone-branch.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b5fec50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t5706-clone-branch.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='branch clone options'
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'setup' '
+
+	mkdir parent &&
+	(cd parent && git init &&
+	 echo one >file && git add file &&
+	 git commit -m one && git branch foo &&
+	 git checkout -b two &&
+	 echo two >f && git add f && git commit -m two &&
+	 git checkout master)
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone' '
+
+	git clone parent clone &&
+	(cd clone &&
+	test $(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) = \
+	     $(git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/origin/master) &&
+	test $(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) != \
+	     $(git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/origin/two))
+
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone -b two' '
+
+	git clone -b two parent clone-b &&
+	(cd clone-b &&
+	test $(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) = \
+	     $(git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/origin/two) &&
+	test $(git rev-parse --verify HEAD) != \
+	     $(git rev-parse --verify refs/remotes/origin/master))
+
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'clone -b foo' '
+
+	git clone -b foo parent clone-b-foo &&
+	(cd clone-b-foo &&
+	test $(git branch | grep \* | sed -e s:\*\ ::) = foo)
+
+'
+
+test_done