[bug-patch] Timestamp-less patches vs space in file names

[Jean Delvare]

Hi all,

I have hit a problematic behavior in GNU patch. I'm not sure yet if it
is a bug, or a limitation I'll have to live with.

GNU patch deals just fine with patches that have no timestamps in the
headers. GNU patch also deals just fine with patches touching files with
a space in their name. However it seems that mixing both doesn't work.

For example, consider the following patch:

--- /dev/null
+++ work/with spaces
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+a

Applying this patch creates a file named "with", not "with spaces" as I
expected.

If I add a "tab" followed by a timestamp (as generated by GNU diff) then
patch properly creates "with spaces" when I apply the patch. Actually
even just adding a "tab" and nothing else after the file name, seems to
do the trick.

Is this a bug in GNU patch? Or a limitation of the patch format?

Thanks,
-- 
Jean Delvare
Suse L3 Support