Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Star-merge Fatally Wounded

[Miles Bader]

On Fri, Sep 10, 2004 at 02:21:55PM -0700, Tom Lord wrote:
> Meanwhile, star-merge should remain honest and simple-minded because,
> as I've said, it actually is a *terrific* semantic for potential
> arch-based infrastructures that happen to be different from the one
> the OP is working on.

Yeah -- I use star-merge a lot despite the fact that I make no attempt to
maintain a `star topology' of anything.  Indeed recently I've even been
star-merging between completely different source trees (gnus and emacs)!

Basically I use it as a less-typing-required version of `apply-delta'
(star-merge also supports --three-way, which often saves my butt by dealing
with duplicate suppression, though apply-delta/&c. have the --forward option,
which might serve too).

My basic method of operation is always `star-merge first, then hit ^C if it
looks like it's going to do something stupid'.  [I'd really like a
`--dry-run' option for star-merge!  Hmmm that doesn't sound too hard to hack
up...]

Ok, maybe I'm not the ideal poster-boy.  Still, I'm a user too.

[If there were a clever high-level heuristic merge command that could
actually deal with the twisted situations I'm usually in, as well as being
more picky about star-merging, then that'd be great, but until then, I'm
reasonably satisfied with the current variety of low-level tools.]

-Miles
-- 
"Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture
and contemplation become almost impossible. Human slavery is wrong, insecure,
and demoralizing.  On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the
future of the world depends." -Oscar Wilde, "The Soul of Man Under Socialism"