Follow-up Comment #1, bug #60421 (project groff): I admit I've been baffled by the suggested fix of "go back to shell version which works," as I read this to be referring to a version of some shell (though it was unclear what control groff could have over what version of a shell anyone used).
I was finally enlightened upon finding Denis's email-list comment about this bug (http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2021-04/msg00036.html), which clarifies that he is talking about a shell implementation (vs the current, perl, implementation) of the "grog" program. Perhaps this was clear to everyone but me, but I offer this comment in case anyone else was confused by the suggested fix. This /bin/sh implementation, src/roff/grog/grog.sh <http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/groff.git/tree/src/roff/grog/grog.sh?id=c52dbddb03f8e1a753d3e9926060663cfc0332a1>, was removed in 2013 in commit 86439177 <http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/groff.git/commit/?id=86439177>. The commit log gives no explanation for this removal, merely stating that it happened (and even that none too clearly). But on the surface it seems like a reasonable thing to do: the same program did not need to exist implemented in two different languages. Prior to 2013 going all the way back to git's earliest records of groff 1.02, both sh and perl versions of grog were in the tree, living at the time at /etc/grog.sh <http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/groff.git/tree/etc/grog.sh?id=351da0dcdf702cf243d26ffa998961bce2aa8653> and etc/grog.pl <http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/groff.git/tree/etc/grog.pl?id=351da0dcdf702cf243d26ffa998961bce2aa8653>, respectively. One of them had to go, though it would have been nice if history had recorded why grog.pl was chosen over grog.sh as the One True Grog. grog.pl has been modified numerous times <http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/groff.git/log/src/roff/grog/grog.pl> since the 2013 removal of grog.sh; thus none of these updates will be in the last existing grog.sh. So reverting to that is pretty clearly the wrong fix (unless someone wants to do the work of integrating all those post-2013 grog.pl updates into the grog.sh code--and maybe even then, since grog.pl may have been chosen for already existing advantages over grog.sh). _______________________________________________________ Reply to this item at: <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?60421> _______________________________________________ Message sent via Savannah https://savannah.gnu.org/
