Comment # 8 on bug 1102261 from Tony Mechelynck

(In reply to Michael Andres from comment #7)
> See
> >    --with[out]-optional
> >        Whether applicable optional patches should be treated as needed or be excluded.
> >        The default is to exclude optional patches.
> 
> in list-patches, patch-check, patch.

Ah, that's how I missed it: I searched for --with-optional and even for --with-
but didn't think about --with[out]. Too obvious, maybe. Thanks for the pointer.
Searching the manpage for --with[[o-] finds a lot of --with-, no separate
--without-, and --with[out]- for only optional.