Subject: Re: Re: Austin Interps 211
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> From: Roger Marquis <marquis@roble.com>
> > (2) adding a sh(1) feature, already implemented in { bash ksh zsh },
> > that does not introduce the printf(3) incompatibility, and solved
> > the problem for all utilities
>
> Would that not introduce an incompatibility between older and newer
> versions of /bin/sh? Would scripts using the new feature break on older
> OSs? That, in a nutshell and IMO, is what a /bin/sh standard should most
> avoid. Whether { bash ksh zsh dash tcsh csh } implement the feature is
> relatively tangental. Consistent printf behavior is certainly important,
> but as printf usage is not that common in /bin/sh scripts, relative to echo
> at least, it wouldn't seem to be a sufficient rational for changing shell
> behavior.
>
> Roger Marquis
>
>
It will not break any strictly conforming shell script since the
behavior of $' is currently unspecified. This is explicitly mentioned
at the end of section 2.6.
David Korn
dgk@research.att.com
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