Patch (Unix)

Patch - apply a diff file to an original file.

TODO: term/source?

It’s widely used to update the source code of a program, for example it’s official method to patch DWM and other suckless software.

Patch take a patch file (usually with .diff extension), containing a diff generated with diff command, and apply it to the original file(s).

Basic usage:

• apply a patch - patch <file> < <patch_file>;
• revert a patch - patch -R <file> < <patch_file>.
• apply a patch to the current dir - patch -p1 < <patch_file>.