Re: Intriguing error with arithmetic evaluation

[Greg Wooledge]

On Mon, Aug 15, 2016 at 03:15:13AM -0700, L. A. Walsh wrote:
> Calculations shouldn't ever trigger "-e" except for things like
> division by 0 (which doesn't trigger it, as the calculation dies
> before an return value can be calculated); it's counter-intuitive.

You may wish as hard as you like, but wishing will not change reality.
The reality is that set -e is worse than useless rubbish.  It is
deceptive.  It is a trap for the unwary.  It makes you THINK you're using
some sophisticated advanced scripting language with exception handling,
but you are NOT.  You are using a horrible duct-tape hack from the
mid-1970s.

The sooner you acknowledge that set -e is NOT intended for use in new
scripts, but instead is ONLY provided to make those old mid-1970s scripts
continue to "run" the same way today as they did back then, the better
off you will be.