Re: [GNU-linux-libre] The "Free" Kernel In Debian Squeeze

[Richard Stallman]

    > Where does it store the correspondence table?

    In git refs/original, unless overridden.

I don't understand the answer.  It means literally nothing to me.
I have never used git.  All I know is what you have told me.

I don't need to know all the details.  I just want to know enough to
see what conclusions follow.  Does it store this correspondence table
as a correspondence table?  Inside the repository, or separately?  Or
does it store the relationships as some sort of "parents"?

    branch1: c1 <- c2 <- c3 <- c4
    branch2: c1 <- c2 <- da

    rebasing branch1 onto branch2 would yield:

    branch2: c1 <- c2 <- c3 <- c4 <- da'

If this operation alters branch2, naming it "rebasing branch1 onto
branch2" is improper English usage.  In standard English usage,
"rebasing branch1 onto branch2" can alter branch1 but can't alter
branch2.

Proper English usage would be to call it "rebasing branch2 onto branch1".

If you confirm for me that git users customarily use the incorrect
usage, I will accept the fact that they do.  But I want to get
confirmation of this.

In order for me to understand the semantics, could you tell me
how the text of da' relates to the text of c4?  Is it the same diff
as the diff between da and c2?  In other words, is it true that
da' = c4 + (da - c2)?

Anyway, the operation I proposed is different.
Assume we have this:

    branch1: c1 <- c2 <- c3 <- c4
    branch2: c1 <- c2
    branch3: whatever <- x

transform branch1, with c2 -> x in the correspondence table,
would not alter branch1, but make a new branch (call it branch1'):

    branch1': whatever <- x <- c3' <- c4'

These versions are defined by
c3' = x + (c3 - c2).
c4' = c3' + (c4 - c3).

It would add c3 -> c3' and c4 -> c4' to the correspondence table.

It could be that branch1 and branch2 are in one repository
and branch3 and branch1' are in another repository.

Is this what filter-branch does?




-- 
Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
51 Franklin St
Boston MA 02110
USA
www.fsf.org, www.gnu.org