On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 01:41:53PM -0500, Bruce Dubbs wrote: > > I would really go the other way and make all the scripts start with > #!/bin/bash > and use the features of bash. When we use the lowest common denominator, we > prevent progress. If someone wants to use dash or another incomplete shell > as a > default, then they should customize the startup scripts too.
Wow, I didn't mean to open a hornet's nest. But this does raise a question. Is there any feature of bash that is commonly used that cannot be done in some fashion with POSIX sh? I'm not talking about the need to do things with different syntax, but the need to use non-sh utilities to match the functionality. If there is such a common use of bash, then I would agree with Bruce, otherwise, I don't see any loss of progress and would prefer portability. > Using alternative shells should be a hint or other suitable reference. There is one (albeit old): http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/hints/downloads/files/OLD/shells.txt Unfortunately, this problem creeps up in the packages LFS installs, too, where #!/bin/sh is used, but bash-specific code is found. We've caught some in the past (probably from previous ash-only enthusiasts). There may be others. A similar problem I'm about to tackle in the next few weeks is gawk/mawk/awk. There are a lot of scripts installed that call gawk or awk. I suspect not all that call awk can use mawk in which case they need changed to gawk. Likewise, I suspect that some call gawk when they should be calling awk. iana-etc is a case where it is done correctly. It calls gawk, but really does need it (as written) and cannot use mawk. -- Archaic -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/lfs-dev FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq/ Unsubscribe: See the above information page
