On Wed, 7 Sep 2011, Always Learning wrote: > > On Wed, 2011-09-07 at 15:50 +0100, John Hodrien wrote: > >> On Wed, 7 Sep 2011, Always Learning wrote: >>> >>> A heavily patched programme is a messy compromise for system options >>> which could be handled by run-time configuration options ? > >> But without patches, you're either bound to an old version, or have to track >> upstream exactly. What if you don't want to? > > So, if I understand the situation, patches create flexibility in > run-time options not available in run-time configuration files ? Not at all. What's your solution where the old product does things one way, the new product does things another way, and there's no config option to flick between the two? Patch in a config option? jh