What is the difference between git "set-upstream-to" and "track" options

Question

Recently, I tried to set my local branch feature to track changes on my remote branch like this:

$ git branch --set-upstream feature origin/feature

Everything went well, but I got that message saying:

The --set-upstream flag is deprecated and will be removed. Consider using --track or --set-upstream-to

My question is how to use the track and set-upstream-to options and if there is a significant difference between them.

UPDATE: I'm using git version 1.8.4

Answer 1

In Git a branch that tracks (or has an upstream) has the an entry similar to the following in the repository config file (/.git/config)

[branch "feature"]
        remote = origin
        merge = refs/heads/feature

The "--set-upstream" option you have been using has been directly replaced with "--track"

so

git branch --track feature origin/feature

additionally there is a new syntax like

git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/feature feature

and also

git branch -u origin/feature feature

All forms function identically.