How can I start a clean branch with no ancestry, then commit files progressively?

Question

I have a PHP framework versioned with GIT and I\'m planning several (drastic) changes to its core.

What I want to do is to start working on the new core in a new br

Answer 1

If you must work with an old version of git:

 mkdir some_dir
 cd some_dir
 git init
 echo a>some_file; git add some_file; git commit -m 'initial commit'
 cd ..
 git fetch ./some_dir/ master:new_independent_branch
 rm -rf some_dir