Hi, On 8 July 2012 19:22, Jonathan Nieder <jrnie...@gmail.com> wrote: > In July, 2008, Raphael Geissert wrote: >> As demonstrated by the following trivia[1], and also mentioned by SUSv3, the >> echo built-in varies from implementation to implementation and thus should be >> discouraged. [...] >> Shells tested: 8 >> Shells expandind backslashes: 5 >> /bin/echo does NOT expand [...] > I think it would make sense to discourage use of strings that might > contain a backslash as arguments to "echo" in some informative > document such as devref or in a footnote to policy.
And the use of strings that might begin with a dash character (minus sign, actually), as demonstrated by the incompatible behaviour with strings such as "-e", "-E", "--", "--version", "--help". > The discussion of this bug seems to have clarified that use of > echo and "echo -n" to print static strings is popular and not > something that is going away soon. I would prefer to back those statements up with real figures, but let's assume for a moment that the opinion of those who have commented on the report reflect reality. > Does that seem like a fair summary? What do you suggest as a next > step? I think that proposing a wording based on the above is the next step forward. Policy editors: do you have any suggestion as to where such informative notes should be added? perhaps as another footnote to section 10.4, referenced by "echo -n" exception? Additionally, I think that the "echo -n" exception should better be phrased in the following way: 'echo', if implemented as a shell built-in, must not generate a newline when the first operand is '-n'. Rationale: consistency with the other exceptions, where the name of the utilities are first mentioned without any arguments. Cheers, -- Raphael Geissert - Debian Developer www.debian.org - get.debian.net -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-policy-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/caa7hughbc9vyvdr1p46aypjhkchhshv9scanowjof0seqza...@mail.gmail.com
