Re: Applying patches in a directory that isn't a repository

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Jun 29, 2007, 06:29 UTC
Message-ID: <7v3b0bi88r.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.pobox.com>
In-Reply-To: <93c3eada0706282307i7a22bd27w6ca10839d36ea4eb@mail.gmail.com>

"Geoff Russell" <geoffrey.russell@gmail.com> writes:

> But "git am" needs (AFAIK) a full repository. Is there a way to apply
> a patch without
> .git being present?

If the recipient does not have a git repository, there is no point using "git am", as it is about making commits out of e-mails.

git-apply acts as a plain "patch applicator".

Another possibility is to use "GNU patch", with -p1. That historically has been how the patches were applied, and the output from git-diff is designed to be very compatible with it, unless you choose to use more advanced features that "GNU patch" does not support yet (notably, renames, mode changes, and binary diffs).