Agreed. After a fetch, I always review the changes on the remote branch. Depending on the circumstances, I can then make an informed decision about my own code,

Agreed. After a fetch, I always review the changes on the remote branch. Depending on the circumstances, I can then make an informed decision about my own code, with the following possible outcomes: 1. I might choose not to merge. The upstream code may be bad, or it may not be ready for a merge. I may need to do some more work to prepare my own code to merge. 2. I might wish to perform a fast-forward merge (if one is possible). 3. I might wish to force a non-fast-forward merge (if a fast-forward is possible). This is often a good idea, as it helps keep groups of commits related to a particular feature isolated. 4. I might wish to rebase.