Re: [PATCH] builtin-apply: check for empty files when detecting creation patch

Linus Torvalds [off-list ref] writes:

Look at CVS-generated patches, or SVN for that matter. The diffs look like 
this:

	Index: file
	===================================================================
	--- file (revision 0)
	+++ file (working copy)
	@@ -0,0 +1 @@
	+test

and there is no /dev/null there.

The thing is, git-apply is careful, and it's very much careful with 
respect to *knowing* that there are lots of different versions of "diff" 
floating around, and lots of different SCM systems that generate odd diff 
headers. We should absolutely NOT start expecting that diffs are only 
generated with GNU diff.

So non-/dev/null'ness means absolutely nothing. It means "don't know", and 
we should leave is_new and is_delete as -1.

Ok, then what's the judgement for the original issue?  Is it a user error
to have a tracked absolutely empty file in the index?