Sender: current-users-owner@NetBSD.org

Like Chap said, there are differences.  While I too like pdksh (it is
loads better than bash IMNSHO), it is a real PITA when I go to use
scripts I developed for the "real thing" on UnixWare or other UN*X
systems, only to find that I was relying on yet another feature that
pdksh never supported.  There are some really subtle differences in
functions between pdksh and ksh93, and that has bitten me a few times.
Then there are some other things that I find myself occasionally
wanting, like true associative arrays, which pdksh does not handle.

- Doug

Quoting Chapman Flack (flack@cerias.purdue.edu):
> > I actually sorta like pdksh.  The licensing terms are less
> > restrictive, and I don't see any reason to favor one
> > implementation over another just because it got there first.
> 
> There's an enormous functionality gap.  ksh is a full
> standalone/embeddable scripting language that can be dynamically
> extended with new commands and disciplines or embedded as scripting
> language by a program, operate on arbitrary binary I/O, do date/time
> computations, documentation generation, i18n and l10n, built on reusable
> libraries that support all of those functions, stackable I/O disciplines
> and filters, and I'll stop because you get the picture.  pdksh is a
> shell program that accepts a language kinda like ksh's from ~11-12 years
> ago.
> 
> I don't have anything against pdksh as pdksh, but I do think it's
> inconvenient when an OS ships with a program named /bin/ksh that won't
> run ksh scripts.

-- 
Douglas Wade Needham - KA8ZRT        UN*X Consultant & UW/BSD kernel programmer
Email:  cinnion @ ka8zrt . com       http://cinnion.ka8zrt.com
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own.  Since I don't want them, why
            should my employer, or anybody else for that matter!