On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:40:14 Raphael Geissert wrote: > I've already changed my /bin/sh and I've found very very few > broken/missbehaving scripts. > And as a great pro my boot time is more than 50% faster now, not to mention > that the overall /bin/sh scripts run faster now.
Debian should ensure that millions of Debian users around the world who have written and tested millions of tiny shell scripts with no thought to the possibility that /bin/sh may one day become not-bash will not suffer millions of hours of down time (or worse - bad data) due to a Debian change. I'm an old software engineer whose experience spans toggling programs into the front-panel of an 18-bit PDP-7 through to bleeding edge AI research. Despite years of endeavoring to design software that is correct, maintainable, reliable, and secure there is no way I could swear that all the little shell scripts I've ever generated will work with a shell other than that they were tested on. On *production* Debian systems, saving 30 seconds in a boot which may occur once a year for a kernel security update is not worth a single broken script, nor a single failed backup, nor a single lost data bit. I see no problem in allowing users to knowingly change their /bin/sh and suffer the consequences of their action if that be their choice. Nor do I contest that forcing a change of /bin/sh is legal within Debian's framework of rules, but I do assert that hurting millions of Debian users through such a change would be extremely detrimental to both Debian users and Debian. I'd much prefer that Debian changed its own scripts to use #!/bin/sh.minimal without affecting user scripts, where /bin/sh.minimal could be linked to any shell meeting Debian's minimal criteria. --Mike Bird -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
