Junio C Hamano <gitster@xxxxxxxxx> writes: >> thing: >> rm -f thing thing+ >> prepare contents for thing >thing+ > > Did I say that? I recall I specifically avoided the "redirection" > because this is *NOT* shell-script only principle. Ah, I did say that in the response to the previous iteration. But the same principle applied to your other patch for [ce]tags which took "-o output", and I was recalling my response to that thread. In any case, whether "cmd >thing" or "cmd -o thing", if cmd leaves a broken output in thing when it fails, it needs the "into thing+ and rename to thing" dance. Redirecion always need it, but a well behaved command like $(CC) should not need it. Thanks.