From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2026 17:24:00 GMT
Subject: Re: git grep failure?
Message-ID: <xmqqtsublolr.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To: <7e8159fb-f7ff-41f0-8955-5ed2dd5dc7fe@infradead.org>

Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org> writes:

> (/me notes that git am and git apply are different in this regard.)

Yup, consider that "git apply" without "--index" is a mere "make
goodness invented for Git available outside Git, as a replacement
for 'patch'", just like "git diff --no-index" is a mere "make
goodness invented for git-diff available outside Git, as a
replacement for 'diff'".  Their primary value is that they work
outside the context of Git without relying on a Git repository, but
they have limitations for not relying on a Git repository and data.

There are better alternatives (i.e., "apply" with "--index", or
"am"; "diff" without "--no-index") if you are working with Git.