Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2020 21:06:33 +0200 From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> To: Per Hedeland <per@hedeland.org> Cc: Brandon helsley <brandon.helsley@hotmail.com>, freebsd-questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Minimal skills Message-ID: <20200604210633.6965a714.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <50fa37b5-42c4-e5ac-0b19-abfa996fcbad@hedeland.org> References: <CY4PR19MB0104DD86F8FE6446AD1BF327F9890@CY4PR19MB0104.namprd19.prod.outlook.com> <CY4PR19MB0104A2C03F4D66A1DA251A23F9880@CY4PR19MB0104.namprd19.prod.outlook.com> <20200604005859.ca438474.freebsd@edvax.de> <CY4PR19MB0104C290121BF756D57B2DDBF9880@CY4PR19MB0104.namprd19.prod.outlook.com> <20200604020051.0c02472d.freebsd@edvax.de> <CY4PR19MB0104DD86F8FE6446AD1BF327F9890@CY4PR19MB0104.namprd19.prod.outlook.com> <CY4PR19MB010470EB8E75DF42106CDD1AF9890@CY4PR19MB0104.namprd19.prod.outlook.com> <20200604082304.fe7d3d80.freebsd@edvax.de> <50fa37b5-42c4-e5ac-0b19-abfa996fcbad@hedeland.org>
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On Thu, 4 Jun 2020 13:43:58 +0200, Per Hedeland wrote: > On 2020-06-04 08:23, Polytropon wrote: > > On Wed, 3 Jun 2020 23:56:37 -0600, Brandon helsley wrote: > > > >> Could you tell me what this tool "diff" is. > > > > A diff (the tool, the process, and its result) means "difference". > > For example, if you find a manpage where the explanation for a > > certain option is missing, you take the original file, make a > > working copy of it, change that working copy, and create a file > > that contains the difference (i. e., the diff, also often > > called the patch) between the original and the updated version. > > This diff can then be sent to the FreeBSD team, and they will > > apply it; the next issue of FreeBSD will then contain the > > updated manpage instead of the original one. > > > > See "man diff" and "man patch" for details. > > > > Persons who have proven to be trusted contributors will get > > direct access to the source code repository: they can check in > > their changes by themselves. > > > > Here is a simplified outline of the process: > > > > # cd /usr/src/bin/ls > > # cp ls.1 ls.1.orig > > # vim ls.1 > > ... you make your changes ... > > :wq > > # diff ls.1 ls.1.orig > ls.1.diff > > Sorry to pick on this one error in the huge amounts of useful info > that you provide, but this is *really* not the way to use diff, at > least not if you expect anyone else to use the result. First, it > produces a reverse diff, i.e. the changes needed to go from the new > version of the file to the old one, which is at least > annoying/confusing - and second, in combination with using the > (unfortunately default) "normal" format, it becomes pretty much > useless. These days, the proper way is > > # diff -u ls.1.orig ls.1 > ls.1.diff This is of course fully correct. My primary intention was to provide an (over)simplified idea of how the diff + patch process works. Thank you for providing a better explanantion, in addition of pointing out _what_ to improve here. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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