Re: `missing' needs patch for Ultrix4.4

[Jim Meyering]

Akim Demaille <address@hidden> wrote:

| >>>>> "Jim" == Jim Meyering <address@hidden> writes:
|
| Jim> IMHO, it is always best to `do it right'.  Evaluating `$1' one
| Jim> extra time is probably just fine for all current uses of `missing
| Jim> --run PROG_AND_ARGS', but someone may well have to use it on a
| Jim> program whose name contains spaces.  We shouldn't prohibit that.
|
| In theory, I agree with you, but we are talking about Make too, and
| the motto up to now was ``forget about spaces in filenames as Make
| makes it impossible''.

Hi Akim,

So consider a name containing some other shell meta-character.  I know
that using such names is not recommended, but I don't like to make
changes that cause programs to fail unnecessarily in any case.  And what
if someone wants to use `missing' in a build system that doesn't have
make's limitation?

It's not as if the change I suggested is *that* ugly, is it?

It doesn't seem right to change `missing' to work less well on _all_
systems just to work around a broken shell on Ultrix4.4.  Granted, the
new failure would happen only when given some presumably `unusual' inputs.

Jim