title: git describe fails with "fatal: No names found, cannot describe anything."
body: <p>I'm using git 1.7.1 on Ubuntu 10.10 amd64, and I'm trying to extract the hash of my repository HEAD to use it in an automated version information that I compile into my project.</p>
  
  <p>In the past, this always worked by using </p>
  
  <pre><code>git describe --tags
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>however, git is now throwing </p>
  
  <pre><code>fatal: No names found, cannot describe anything.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>at me. Does anyone have a clue what that means?</p>
  
  <p>Google showed only few hits and no solution.</p>