patch, 2 partsHandle core.symlinks=false case in merge-recursive.

merge-recursive.c, t/t6025-merge-symlinks.sh

diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 397a7ad..f8be72e 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ static void update_file_flags(const unsigned char *sha,
 		if (strcmp(type, blob_type) != 0)
 			die("blob expected for %s '%s'", sha1_to_hex(sha), path);
 
-		if (S_ISREG(mode)) {
+		if (S_ISREG(mode) || (!has_symlinks && S_ISLNK(mode))) {
 			int fd;
 			if (mkdir_p(path, 0777))
 				die("failed to create path %s: %s", path, strerror(errno));
@@ -591,6 +591,7 @@ static void update_file_flags(const unsigned char *sha,
 			mkdir_p(path, 0777);
 			unlink(path);
 			symlink(lnk, path);
+			free(lnk);
 		} else
 			die("do not know what to do with %06o %s '%s'",
 			    mode, sha1_to_hex(sha), path);
diff --git a/t/t6025-merge-symlinks.sh b/t/t6025-merge-symlinks.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c1a697
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t6025-merge-symlinks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2007 Johannes Sixt
+#
+
+test_description='merging symlinks on filesystem w/o symlink support.
+
+This tests that git-merge-recursive writes merge results as plain files
+if core.symlinks is false.'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success \
+'setup' '
+git-config core.symlinks false &&
+> file &&
+git-add file &&
+git-commit -m initial &&
+git-branch b-symlink &&
+git-branch b-file &&
+l=$(echo -n file | git-hash-object -t blob -w --stdin) &&
+echo "120000 $l	symlink" | git-update-index --index-info &&
+git-commit -m master &&
+git-checkout b-symlink &&
+l=$(echo -n file-different | git-hash-object -t blob -w --stdin) &&
+echo "120000 $l	symlink" | git-update-index --index-info &&
+git-commit -m b-symlink &&
+git-checkout b-file &&
+echo plain-file > symlink &&
+git-add symlink &&
+git-commit -m b-file'
+
+test_expect_failure \
+'merge master into b-symlink, which has a different symbolic link' '
+! git-checkout b-symlink ||
+git-merge master'
+
+test_expect_success \
+'the merge result must be a file' '
+test -f symlink'
+
+test_expect_failure \
+'merge master into b-file, which has a file instead of a symbolic link' '
+! (git-reset --hard &&
+git-checkout b-file) ||
+git-merge master'
+
+test_expect_success \
+'the merge result must be a file' '
+test -f symlink'
+
+test_expect_failure \
+'merge b-file, which has a file instead of a symbolic link, into master' '
+! (git-reset --hard &&
+git-checkout master) ||
+git-merge b-file'
+
+test_expect_success \
+'the merge result must be a file' '
+test -f symlink'
+
+test_done

diff --git a/combine-diff.c b/combine-diff.c
index 044633d..e6e3969 100644
--- a/combine-diff.c
+++ b/combine-diff.c
@@ -699,8 +699,18 @@ static void show_patch_diff(struct combine_diff_path *elem, int num_parent,
 			 !fstat(fd, &st)) {
 			size_t len = st.st_size;
 			size_t sz = 0;
+			int is_file, i;
 
 			elem->mode = canon_mode(st.st_mode);
+			/* if symlinks don't work, assume symlink if all parents
+			 * are symlinks
+			 */
+			is_file = has_symlinks;
+			for (i = 0; !is_file && i < num_parent; i++)
+				is_file = !S_ISLNK(elem->parent[i].mode);
+			if (!is_file)
+				elem->mode = canon_mode(S_IFLNK);
+
 			result_size = len;
 			result = xmalloc(len + 1);
 			while (sz < len) {