- errs = error("'%s' has changes staged in the index "
- "(hint: try -f)", name);
+ staged_changes = 1;
+
+ if (local_changes && staged_changes)
+ errs = error("'%s' has staged content different "
+ "from both the file and the HEAD\n"
+ "(use -f to force removal)", name);
+ else if (!index_only) {
+ /* It's not dangerous to git-rm --cached a
+ * file if the index matches the file or the
+ * HEAD, since it means the deleted content is
+ * still available somewhere.
+ */
+ if (staged_changes)
+ errs = error("'%s' has changes staged in the index\n"
+ "(use --cached to keep the file, "
+ "or -f to force removal)", name);
+ if (local_changes)
+ errs = error("'%s' has local modifications\n"
+ "(use --cached to keep the file, "
+ "or -f to force removal)", name);
+ }