diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'appendixa/patch-desc.xml')
-rw-r--r-- | appendixa/patch-desc.xml | 16 |
1 files changed, 5 insertions, 11 deletions
diff --git a/appendixa/patch-desc.xml b/appendixa/patch-desc.xml index 41baeea59..aa966eebf 100644 --- a/appendixa/patch-desc.xml +++ b/appendixa/patch-desc.xml @@ -6,17 +6,11 @@ <sect3><title>Program files descriptions</title> -<sect4><title>patch</title> -<para>The patch program modifies a file according to a patch file. A patch -file usually is a list, created by the diff program, that contains -instructions on how an original file needs to be modified. Patch is used -a lot for source code patches since it saves time and space. Imagine -a package that is 1 MB in size. The next version of that package -only has changes in two files of the first version. It can be shipped as an -entirely new package of 1 MB or just as a patch file of 1 KB, which will -update the first version to make it identical to the second version. So -if the first version was downloaded already, a patch file avoids -a second large download.</para></sect4> +<para><command>patch</command> modifies files according to a patch file. +A patch file normally is a difference listing created with the diff program. +By applying these differences to the original files, patch creates the patched +versions. Using patches instead a entire new tarballs to keep your sources +up-to-date can save you a lot of download time.</para> </sect3> |