title: Managing long-lived branches in git / GitLab
body: <p>Using <code>git</code> I have two long-lived branches: <code>master</code> and <code>develop</code>. Feature branches are taken from <code>develop</code> and then merged back into <code>develop</code> upon completion. Once we're happy we then merge the contents into <code>master</code>.</p>
  
  <p>The "issue" I have is that <code>master</code> is now one commit ahead of <code>develop</code>. So the next branch that is taken from the tip of <code>develop</code> is one commit behind <code>master</code>. <strong>Should I be concerned about this?</strong></p>
  
  <p>I know this can be dealt with by performing a fast-forward merge into <code>master</code> (and therefore not creating the extra merge commit), but do I actually need to care about this? The reason I ask is because it feels like <code>develop</code> is going to become increasingly diverged from <code>master</code> upon each new <code>feature</code>-><code>develop</code>-><code>master</code> merge.</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: I'm using GitLab / GitHub. The Merge Request / Pull Request feature necessitates a non-fast-forward merge.</p>