I wrote:
> Hmm. Some further looking in the git log output shows that that
> "manufactured commit" is actually the ONLY commit shown as being a
> predecessor of REL8_4_3. Everything else after 8.4.2 was tagged is
> shown as reached from refs/tags/REL8_4_4. This is at the least pretty
> weird, and I have to suppose it's the manufactured commit causing it.
> It does appear to agree with your explanation: the "8.4.3" state is
> not part of the branch's main evolution, but is a little side branch
> all by itself.
This same pattern can be found repeated in at least ten earlier places
in our project history, btw --- just look for commits using the phrase
"manufactured by cvs2svn to create tag" instead of "to create branch".
The worst example is probably the one for tag REL7_1_BETA, which deletes
70-odd files.
regards, tom lane