mv question/request

[Michael Keenan]

i would like an option to mv that would allow for merging of
directories. ie:

$ mkdir test/foo
$ touch test/foo/A
$ mkdir foo
$ touch foo/A
$ touch foo/B
$ mv foo/ test/
mv: cannot overwrite directory `test/foo'

i would like an option (-m?) that would allow files in like-named
directories to be merged. so in the previous example i would end up with:

$ ls test/foo/
A  B

normal behavior for files would still apply.

i have made a few scripts to handle this, but i have often desired such a
feature and thought that it might be better implemented in mv rather than
a script.

this may have been already considered and dismissed for reasons unknown to
me. if you could let me know if this sort of option would fit in with the
philosophy of mv or not, please let me know.

thank you

mjk