Re: [dev] [question] Does bash suck?

From: Kamil Cholewiński <harry666t_AT_gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2016 19:53:00 +0200

On Sat, 23 Apr 2016, Greg Reagle <greg.reagle_AT_umbc.edu> wrote:
> [...] it is incompatible with Plan 9 rc, unfortunately, and the author
> is not interested in changing it to be compatible [4]. The difference
> is just one item of syntax, but it's enough to be a major
> incompatibility.

Make that two, quoting the man page:

> The list flattening operator, $^foo, is spelt $"foo in those versions
> of the Bell Labs rc which have it.

All other incompatibilities seem to be a superset of AT&T's rc's
functionality, or can be avoided.

And since both of them are named "rc", and are usually present in vastly
different locations across different platforms, it's practically
impossible to detect or specify using one vs another in a simple and
portable way.

I don't understand why... The author went as far as to document all of
these incompatibilities, why not just fix them?

We could have had a better shell. Such a shame.
Received on Sat Apr 23 2016 - 19:53:00 CEST