Re: [PATCH] Teach "git apply" to prepend a prefix with "--root=<root>"

["H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>]

Junio C Hamano wrote:
> 
> The -p<num> came from patch where it is also called --strip=num.  This new
> option --root is about the reverse operation and it is about inserting at
> the beginning --- it is rerooting, in other words, but then --root is good
> enough and shorter.  mkisofs uses the word "graft" when it allows tree
> shifting (enabled with --graft-points), but the word "graft" means a
> totally different thing to us, so we would not want to use that word.
> 
> I am not complaining (--root is fine by me), but just thinking aloud,
> hoping somebody's brainwave is provoked while reading this babbling and
> comes up with a better wording ;-).
> 

There is an analogous concept in patch(1), it's just implemented by 
cd'ing to a subdirectory first.  ;)

I think --root makes sense as the root of the patch.  The other 
alternative would be --add (by analogy with --strip); the biggest 
advantage there is that -a, as a short option, isn't used for anything 
either by git-am, git-apply, or patch.

Incidentally, has anyone talked to the patch(1) maintainers about adding 
support for the git extensions, like binary patches?  The main reason is 
that patch(1) is still useful when you have to suffer though fuzzy errors.

	-hpa