The >& form is only for file descriptors, passing a file name there is
a bash extension.
$ /bin/dash -c 'echo foo >&/dev/null'
/bin/dash: 1: Syntax error: Bad fd number
I think this aligns better with how redo works. Otherwise, if a.do
creates a as a symlink, then changes to the symlink's *target* will
change a's stat/stamp information without re-running a.do, which looks
to redo like you modified a by hand, which causes it to stop running
a.do altogether.
With this change, modifications to a's target are okay, but they don't
trigger any redo dependency changes. If you want that, then a.do
should redo-ifchange on its symlink target explicitly.