[ On Sunday, June 9, 2002 at 20:11:09 (+0100), David Laight wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: discrepency beteen /bin/echo and builtin echo of /bin/sh
>
> The PROBLEM are those scripts that start #! /bin/sh and expect
> behaviour that isn't part of the traditional bourne shell.

Ah, WRONG!   These days /bin/sh should be expected to be at least
POSIX.2 compliant, if not full SuSv2 compliant.  Truly traditional
Bourne shell is truly unrealistic and very restrictive.

> (this include netbsd's build.sh)
> Systems that install shells into /bin/sh which are nothing
> like a bourne shell ought to be deleted (bash is a particularly
> good example of a bad sh).

Yes, "bash" specific requirements should be bashed out of existance.

> There is the slight unfortunate problem that the SuS requires
> that sh behave (to some extent) like ksh.
> (Posix probably allows you to do anything that any system that
> wanted to be called 'posix compiant' actually did at the time
> the standard was written - whether or not it was sensible.)

Perhaps you should do a real-world comparison between POSIX.2 and
SuSv2.  They're really not all that far apart.  Ksh was leading in
innovations, and for very good reasons.

> I do (usually) try to write scripts that that a 'proper'
> bourne sh (eg the solaris one) will run.

Well in that case (i.e. the solaris one), you're already lost.

If you were to use /usr/xpg4/bin/sh you'd be much better off.

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

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