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Date:      Sun, 27 Oct 2002 03:25:12 +0000
From:      Tony Finch <dot@dotat.at>
To:        Garrett Wollman <wollman@lcs.mit.edu>
Cc:        Mark Valentine <mark@thuvia.demon.co.uk>, freebsd-standards@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: /usr/posix: a first cut
Message-ID:  <20021027032512.A27342@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
In-Reply-To: <200210262224.g9QMO4pw026010@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>; from wollman@lcs.mit.edu on Sat, Oct 26, 2002 at 06:24:04PM -0400
References:  <200210262036.g9QKadk2025534@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> <200210262115.g9QLFeCw014715@dotar.thuvia.org> <200210262224.g9QMO4pw026010@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>

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On Sat, Oct 26, 2002 at 06:24:04PM -0400, Garrett Wollman wrote:
> 
> That's because the only POSIX-compliant shell on Solaris is called
> `/usr/xpg4/bin/sh'.  Since /usr/xpg4/bin is the first directory in the
> standard PATH, this is OK (even if confusing and poor QOI).

As far as I can tell you have to explicitly put /usr/xpg4/bin in your
path on Solaris in order to get post-1980s behaviour, and it will not
do that for you by default.

Coding "portably" (i.e. coding to standards) is all very well, but it
does not mean that your code will run on lots of systems. If you want to
write a script that will run on many unices then you have to code to the
7th Edition. FreeBSD should remain compatible with that (for the sake
of antediluvian scripts and Solaris) and with BSDs from recent years
(so that autoconf doesn't lose its marbles) and aim for newer standards
as a lower priority.

Tony.
-- 
f.a.n.finch <dot@dotat.at> http://dotat.at/
FORTIES CROMARTY FORTH TYNE DOGGER: SOUTHERLY 4 OR 5 BECOMING CYCLONIC THEN
NORTHWESTERLY 6 TO GALE 8, PERHAPS SEVERE GALE 9 LATER. RAIN. MODERATE.

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