Hasty Briefsbeta

Modifying other people's software

10 days ago
  • #patch-management
  • #software-development
  • #version-control
  • Modifying software built by others is common, but upstreaming changes isn't always feasible due to specificity, timing, or personal preference.
  • Git, while powerful for version control, struggles with maintaining isolated patches over time due to its forward-moving history model.
  • Jujutsu (jj) offers history rewriting but lacks support for sharing operation logs, making collaboration difficult.
  • Linux distributions manage patches using .patch files and tools like Quilt, but these solutions have limitations and usability issues.
  • Lappverk is introduced as a solution to manage patches with Git-like workflows, allowing easy import/export of patch sets and maintaining patch history.
  • Lappverk simplifies the process of maintaining patches over time, making it easier to apply personal or environment-specific changes without full forks.
  • The tool is inspired by internal tools like Patchable and aims to provide a more Git-friendly approach to patch management.