Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] writes:

Jonathan Nieder [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

Thomas Rast wrote:

quoted

The problem with -b is that it's a backwards-compatibility shorthand for
--binary, which used to pass --allow-binary-replacement (or --binary) to
git-apply.  However, that option was obsoleted in 2b6eef9 (Make apply
--binary a no-op., 2006-09-06) and has been a no-op for over 5 years.
It has also not been documented since cb3a160 (git-am: ignore --binary
option, 2008-08-09).

So perhaps we can safely claim -b for --keep-non-patch, like so:

We can delete "git am -b" (as it was deprecated long time ago), wait
for a cycle or two, and then repurpose it.  I do not mind starting
the first step (delete, but do not say anything about repurposing)
before 1.7.10-rc1 happens.

Ok, but if I don't get to say anything about repurposing, can I at least
make it an error message instead of just spewing out the "invalid
option" help?

----- 8< -----
Subject: [PATCH] git-am: error out when seeing -b/--binary

The --binary option to git-apply has been a no-op since 2b6eef9 (Make
apply --binary a no-op., 2006-09-06) and was deprecated in cb3a160
(git-am: ignore --binary option, 2008-08-09).

We could remove it outright, but let's be nice to people who still
have scripts saying 'git am -b' (if they exist) and tell them the
reason for the sudden failure.

Signed-off-by: Thomas Rast <redacted>
---
 git-am.sh |    4 +++-
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/git-am.sh b/git-am.sh
index 0bd290b..faae820 100755
--- a/git-am.sh
+++ b/git-am.sh

@@ -380,7 +380,9 @@ do
 	-i|--interactive)
 		interactive=t ;;
 	-b|--binary)
-		: ;;
+		echo >&2 "The -b/--binary option was deprecated in 1.6.0 and removed in 1.7.10."
+		die "Please adjust your scripts."
+		;;
 	-3|--3way)
 		threeway=t ;;
 	-s|--signoff)

-- 
Thomas Rast
trast@{inf,student}.ethz.ch