Re: Local variable names clash with global read-only variable names.

[Greg Wooledge]

On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 08:14:28PM +0200, andrej--- via Bug reports for the GNU 
Bourne Again SHell wrote:
>     f() { local x=a; }
>     declare -r x
>     f  # bash: local: x: readonly variable
> 
>   This^^^ should not fail; it hinders reusability of shell functions and makes
>   them context-dependent.

The purpose of 'readonly' as a variable attribute is to supplement a
restricted shell environment.  If a variable is set readonly, it's because
the system administrator, or whoever set up the enviroment, demands that
this variable NOT be changed by the end user.

If the end user were able to change it simply by declaring it as local
inside a function, breaking the restricted shell would be too easy.

(The fact that restricted shells are a joke doesn't change this stance.)