Proper switches for diff

jakev383 · #1 27th December 2009, 02:02 PM

So F12 (and soon F13) now use a stricter method of applying patches in RPM files.
I'm going to go back and re-diff a lot of my software, but what are the proper switches to create the patch files? All of the other distros are fine with using the defaults, but I would like to make sure I'm making a forward motion since the new method will be stricter.
Thanks.

Dies · #2 27th December 2009, 03:15 PM

There's no difference that I've come across.

Unless you point to a specific package or patch, it's doubtful that anyone can help since no one actually has a clue as to what exactly it is you're doing.

You have another post

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=237315

But it's still not helpful. The patch you're applying to all these different source rpms, is the software in these source rpms exactly the same? Same version, same set of default patches, etc. ?

Without knowing that any answer you might get is just a guess.

jakev383 · #3 27th December 2009, 03:36 PM

Yes, the software is exactly the same.
The SRPM compiles fine on F9, F10, and F11. When I copy it to F12, it does not compile. I wanted to know if there was something obvious that was a common thing that had changed, and in this particular thread I wanted to know if there was a switch difference in diff that needed to be utilized instead.

Dies · #4 27th December 2009, 03:43 PM

Like I said, nothing that I've come across.

diff -ruN

is what I ( everybody? ) tend to use the most.

jakev383 · #5 28th December 2009, 02:14 PM

Then you'll understand my confusion after reading this link:
http://lwn.net/Articles/289235/
Particularly after reading #2 under the Packagers section.
Or should I just assume that it will work because you say so?

Dies · #6 28th December 2009, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakev383

Then you'll understand my confusion after reading this link:
http://lwn.net/Articles/289235/
Particularly after reading #2 under the Packagers section.
Or should I just assume that it will work because you say so?

No but maybe you should re-read it.

It clearly suggests that you re-diff ( without mentioning any magical switches to use ). It also goes on to state that using fuzz=2 is the same as the default patch command which according to you fails as well.

But hey, if you choose to believe that the Fedora developers are silly enough to break the diff command completely then that's your choice. Instead of taking a little time to re-diff your patches, or filing a bug, just wait for someone here to tell you what you would like to hear. I'm sure that will get your package built faster.

jakev383 · #7 29th December 2009, 04:05 PM

And in my original post I stated that I was going to re-diff the packages but was inquiring if there was a special or preferred way of diff'ing them for Fedora.
I was trying to see if others had followed the same road and inquire if there were any obstacles along the way (ie: different switches) that I could be saved from hitting myself. (And didn't is say that the default will now be fuzz 0?)
Guess the consensus is that we should all have to work on the same obstacles and not share our experiences with others to avoid them.
Thanks for your insightful reply.

vallimar · #8 29th December 2009, 07:17 PM

If you want to know the Fedora approved methodology, read the Package Maintainers / Creators guides/sections/whatever from the Fedora website. I don't know, but would imagine the most approved method for patch creation for rpm's is using the gendiff script available in the rpm-build package. That script pretty much uses diff -up file1 file2. File1 is replaced with /dev/null when there is a new file, which is similar to doing diff -Nup.

Dies · #9 29th December 2009, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakev383

And in my original post I stated that I was going to re-diff the packages but was inquiring if there was a special or preferred way of diff'ing them for Fedora.
I was trying to see if others had followed the same road and inquire if there were any obstacles along the way (ie: different switches) that I could be saved from hitting myself. (And didn't is say that the default will now be fuzz 0?)
Guess the consensus is that we should all have to work on the same obstacles and not share our experiences with others to avoid them.
Thanks for your insightful reply.

Really? Are you serious? The first thing I did was tell you that there wasn't.

You choose not to believe that ( because of some seriously outdated article that would have also affected previous versions of Fedora

) so I'm a jerk?

Yeah, that makes sense.

Oh yeah, btw, "our experiences" in this case are shared by default, they're called source rpms...

Anyways, good luck.