diff --git a/Documentation/git-diff.txt b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
index 228c4d95bd..3144864d85 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-diff.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ the number of trees given to the command.
 
 * When one <tree-ish> is given, the working tree and the named
   tree are compared, using `git-diff-index`.  The option
-  `--cached` can be given to compare the index file and
+  `--index` can be given to compare the index file and
   the named tree.
+  `--cached` is a deprecated alias for `--index`. It's use is
+  discouraged.
 
 * When two <tree-ish>s are given, these two trees are compared
   using `git-diff-tree`.
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ Various ways to check your working tree::
 +
 ------------
 $ git diff            <1>
-$ git diff --cached   <2>
+$ git diff --index    <2>
 $ git diff HEAD       <3>
 ------------
 +
diff --git a/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt b/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt
index 68ac6a65df..4bc35a1d4b 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-symbolic-ref.txt
@@ -19,29 +19,22 @@ argument to see on which branch your working tree is on.
 Give two arguments, create or update a symbolic ref <name> to
 point at the given branch <ref>.
 
-Traditionally, `.git/HEAD` is a symlink pointing at
-`refs/heads/master`.  When we want to switch to another branch,
-we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we want
+A symbolic ref is a regular file that stores a string that
+begins with `ref: refs/`.  For example, your `.git/HEAD` is
+a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`.
+
+NOTES
+-----
+In the past, `.git/HEAD` was a symbolic link pointing at
+`refs/heads/master`.  When we wanted to switch to another branch,
+we did `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch .git/HEAD`, and when we wanted
 to find out which branch we are on, we did `readlink .git/HEAD`.
 This was fine, and internally that is what still happens by
 default, but on platforms that do not have working symlinks,
 or that do not have the `readlink(1)` command, this was a bit
 cumbersome.  On some platforms, `ln -sf` does not even work as
-advertised (horrors).
-
-A symbolic ref can be a regular file that stores a string that
-begins with `ref: refs/`.  For example, your `.git/HEAD` *can*
-be a regular file whose contents is `ref: refs/heads/master`.
-This can be used on a filesystem that does not support symbolic
-links.  Instead of doing `readlink .git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref
-HEAD` can be used to find out which branch we are on.  To point
-the HEAD to `newbranch`, instead of `ln -sf refs/heads/newbranch
-.git/HEAD`, `git-symbolic-ref HEAD refs/heads/newbranch` can be
-used.
-
-Currently, .git/HEAD uses a regular file symbolic ref on Cygwin,
-and everywhere else it is implemented as a symlink.  This can be
-changed at compilation time.
+advertised (horrors).  Therefore symbolic links are now deprecated
+and symbolic refs are used by default.
 
 Author
 ------
diff --git a/builtin-diff.c b/builtin-diff.c
index a6590205e8..1c535b1dd6 100644
--- a/builtin-diff.c
+++ b/builtin-diff.c
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ static int builtin_diff_index(struct rev_info *revs,
 	int cached = 0;
 	while (1 < argc) {
 		const char *arg = argv[1];
-		if (!strcmp(arg, "--cached"))
+		if (!strcmp(arg, "--index") || !strcmp(arg, "--cached"))
 			cached = 1;
 		else
 			usage(builtin_diff_usage);
diff --git a/builtin-ls-files.c b/builtin-ls-files.c
index ad8c41e731..bc79ce40fc 100644
--- a/builtin-ls-files.c
+++ b/builtin-ls-files.c
@@ -487,10 +487,14 @@ int cmd_ls_files(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		for (num = 0; pathspec[num]; num++) {
 			if (ps_matched[num])
 				continue;
-			error("pathspec '%s' did not match any.",
+			error("pathspec '%s' did not match any file(s) known to git.",
 			      pathspec[num] + prefix_offset);
 			errors++;
 		}
+
+		if (errors)
+			fprintf(stderr, "Did you forget to 'git add'?\n");
+
 		return errors ? 1 : 0;
 	}
 
diff --git a/builtin-pack-objects.c b/builtin-pack-objects.c
index 753bcd57b0..a2dc7d1d9d 100644
--- a/builtin-pack-objects.c
+++ b/builtin-pack-objects.c
@@ -514,6 +514,8 @@ static void write_pack_file(void)
 	if (do_progress)
 		fputc('\n', stderr);
  done:
+	if (written != nr_result)
+		die("wrote %d objects while expecting %d", written, nr_result);
 	sha1close(f, pack_file_sha1, 1);
 }
 
@@ -1662,7 +1664,7 @@ int cmd_pack_objects(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		}
 	}
 	if (progress)
-		fprintf(stderr, "Total %d, written %d (delta %d), reused %d (delta %d)\n",
-			nr_result, written, written_delta, reused, reused_delta);
+		fprintf(stderr, "Total %d (delta %d), reused %d (delta %d)\n",
+			written, written_delta, reused, reused_delta);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/git-checkout.sh b/git-checkout.sh
index 737abd0c09..5bf399a276 100755
--- a/git-checkout.sh
+++ b/git-checkout.sh
@@ -168,6 +168,9 @@ else
 		exit 1 ;;
 	esac
 
+	# First stash away the local changes
+	git diff-index --binary -p HEAD >"$GIT_DIR"/LOCAL_DIFF
+
 	# Match the index to the working tree, and do a three-way.
     	git diff-files --name-only | git update-index --remove --stdin &&
 	work=`git write-tree` &&
@@ -195,6 +198,10 @@ else
 			sed -e 's/^[0-7]* [0-9a-f]* /'"0 $z40 /"
 			echo "$unmerged"
 		) | git update-index --index-info
+
+		echo >&2 "Conflicts in locally modified files:"
+		git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U >&2
+		echo >&2 "Your local changes are found in $GIT_DIR/LOCAL_DIFF"
 		;;
 	esac
 	exit 0
diff --git a/git-merge.sh b/git-merge.sh
index 75af10d3e4..798aad3576 100755
--- a/git-merge.sh
+++ b/git-merge.sh
@@ -91,6 +91,51 @@ finish () {
 	esac
 }
 
+merge_local_changes () {
+	merge_error=$(git-read-tree -m -u $1 $2 2>&1) || (
+
+		# First stash away the local changes
+		git diff-index --binary -p HEAD >"$GIT_DIR"/LOCAL_DIFF
+
+		# Match the index to the working tree, and do a three-way.
+		git diff-files --name-only |
+		git update-index --remove --stdin &&
+		work=`git write-tree` &&
+		git read-tree --reset -u $2 &&
+		git read-tree -m -u --aggressive $1 $2 $work || exit
+
+		echo >&2 "Carrying local changes forward."
+		if result=`git write-tree 2>/dev/null`
+		then
+			echo >&2 "Trivially automerged."
+		else
+			git merge-index -o git-merge-one-file -a
+		fi
+
+		# Do not register the cleanly merged paths in the index
+		# yet; this is not a real merge before committing, but
+		# just carrying the working tree changes along.
+		unmerged=`git ls-files -u`
+		git read-tree --reset $2
+		case "$unmerged" in
+		'')	;;
+		*)
+			(
+				z40=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
+				echo "$unmerged" |
+				sed -e 's/^[0-7]* [0-9a-f]* /'"0 $z40 /"
+				echo "$unmerged"
+			) | git update-index --index-info
+
+			echo >&2 "Conflicts in locally modified files:"
+			git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U >&2
+			echo >&2 "Your local changes are found in $GIT_DIR/LOCAL_DIFF"
+			;;
+		esac
+		exit 0
+	)
+}
+
 case "$#" in 0) usage ;; esac
 
 rloga= have_message=
@@ -189,13 +234,13 @@ else
 	merge_name=$(for remote
 		do
 			rh=$(git-rev-parse --verify "$remote"^0 2>/dev/null) &&
-			if git show-ref -q --verify "refs/heads/$remote"
+			bh=$(git show-ref -s --verify "refs/heads/$remote") &&
+			if test "$rh" = "$bh"
 			then
-				what=branch
+				echo "$rh		branch '$remote' of ."
 			else
-				what=commit
-			fi &&
-			echo "$rh		$what '$remote'"
+				echo "$rh		commit '$remote'"
+			fi
 		done | git-fmt-merge-msg
 	)
 	merge_msg="${merge_msg:+$merge_msg$LF$LF}$merge_name"
@@ -264,7 +309,7 @@ f,*)
 	echo "Updating $(git-rev-parse --short $head)..$(git-rev-parse --short $1)"
 	git-update-index --refresh 2>/dev/null
 	new_head=$(git-rev-parse --verify "$1^0") &&
-	git-read-tree -u -v -m $head "$new_head" &&
+	merge_local_changes $head $new_head &&
 	finish "$new_head" "Fast forward"
 	dropsave
 	exit 0
diff --git a/git-svn.perl b/git-svn.perl
index 3891122d73..d0bd0bdeb8 100755
--- a/git-svn.perl
+++ b/git-svn.perl
@@ -2982,7 +2982,7 @@ sub libsvn_fetch_delta {
 sub libsvn_fetch_full {
 	my ($last_commit, $paths, $rev, $author, $date, $msg) = @_;
 	open my $gui, '| git-update-index -z --index-info' or croak $!;
-	my @amr;
+	my %amr;
 	my $p = $SVN->{svn_path};
 	foreach my $f (keys %$paths) {
 		my $m = $paths->{$f}->action();
@@ -3001,7 +3001,7 @@ sub libsvn_fetch_full {
 		my $t = $SVN->check_path($f, $rev, $pool);
 		if ($t == $SVN::Node::file) {
 			if ($m =~ /^[AMR]$/) {
-				push @amr, [ $m, $f ];
+				$amr{$f} = $m;
 			} else {
 				die "Unrecognized action: $m, ($f r$rev)\n";
 			}
@@ -3009,13 +3009,13 @@ sub libsvn_fetch_full {
 			my @traversed = ();
 			libsvn_traverse($gui, '', $f, $rev, \@traversed);
 			foreach (@traversed) {
-				push @amr, [ $m, $_ ]
+				$amr{$_} = $m;
 			}
 		}
 		$pool->clear;
 	}
-	foreach (@amr) {
-		libsvn_get_file($gui, $_->[1], $rev, $_->[0]);
+	foreach (keys %amr) {
+		libsvn_get_file($gui, $_, $rev, $amr{$_});
 	}
 	close $gui or croak $?;
 	return libsvn_log_entry($rev, $author, $date, $msg, [$last_commit]);
diff --git a/gitk b/gitk
index ab383b3ad2..3dabc69516 100755
--- a/gitk
+++ b/gitk
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ proc makewindow {} {
     pack .ctop.top.lbar.vlabel -side left -fill y
     global viewhlmenu selectedhlview
     set viewhlmenu [tk_optionMenu .ctop.top.lbar.vhl selectedhlview None]
-    $viewhlmenu entryconf 0 -command delvhighlight
+    $viewhlmenu entryconf None -command delvhighlight
     $viewhlmenu conf -font $uifont
     .ctop.top.lbar.vhl conf -font $uifont
     pack .ctop.top.lbar.vhl -side left -fill y
@@ -1474,7 +1474,7 @@ proc doviewmenu {m first cmd op argv} {
 proc allviewmenus {n op args} {
     global viewhlmenu
 
-    doviewmenu .bar.view 7 [list showview $n] $op $args
+    doviewmenu .bar.view 5 [list showview $n] $op $args
     doviewmenu $viewhlmenu 1 [list addvhighlight $n] $op $args
 }
 
@@ -1516,7 +1516,7 @@ proc newviewok {top n} {
 	set viewperm($n) $newviewperm($n)
 	if {$newviewname($n) ne $viewname($n)} {
 	    set viewname($n) $newviewname($n)
-	    doviewmenu .bar.view 7 [list showview $n] \
+	    doviewmenu .bar.view 5 [list showview $n] \
 		entryconf [list -label $viewname($n)]
 	    doviewmenu $viewhlmenu 1 [list addvhighlight $n] \
 		entryconf [list -label $viewname($n) -value $viewname($n)]
@@ -1632,8 +1632,8 @@ proc showview {n} {
 
     set curview $n
     set selectedview $n
-    .bar.view entryconf 2 -state [expr {$n == 0? "disabled": "normal"}]
-    .bar.view entryconf 3 -state [expr {$n == 0? "disabled": "normal"}]
+    .bar.view entryconf Edit* -state [expr {$n == 0? "disabled": "normal"}]
+    .bar.view entryconf Delete* -state [expr {$n == 0? "disabled": "normal"}]
 
     if {![info exists viewdata($n)]} {
 	set pending_select $selid
@@ -4899,9 +4899,9 @@ proc rowmenu {x y id} {
     } else {
 	set state normal
     }
-    $rowctxmenu entryconfigure 0 -state $state
-    $rowctxmenu entryconfigure 1 -state $state
-    $rowctxmenu entryconfigure 2 -state $state
+    $rowctxmenu entryconfigure "Diff this*" -state $state
+    $rowctxmenu entryconfigure "Diff selected*" -state $state
+    $rowctxmenu entryconfigure "Make patch" -state $state
     set rowmenuid $id
     tk_popup $rowctxmenu $x $y
 }
@@ -6305,8 +6305,8 @@ if {$cmdline_files ne {} || $revtreeargs ne {}} {
     set viewargs(1) $revtreeargs
     set viewperm(1) 0
     addviewmenu 1
-    .bar.view entryconf 2 -state normal
-    .bar.view entryconf 3 -state normal
+    .bar.view entryconf Edit* -state normal
+    .bar.view entryconf Delete* -state normal
 }
 
 if {[info exists permviews]} {