RE: recursion crash

[Chet Ramey]

> I would expect to it behave differently.  Any program would consume resource
> in this case - true functional or otherwise.  Clearly a recursive call must
> store the return path!
> 
> However, I would expect bash to give up when it could not acquire more
> resource from the computer.  This is very far from the case here.  Of the
> several hundred mega-bites of ram bash could have used, it uses so little my
> normal system monitor cannot detect it.
> 
> Thus, I would assume that the stack size is hard coded and does not increase
> upon demand.  This is at odds with the manual which states that 'No limit is
> set on the number of recursive calls." (which would imply a _system_
> resource limit).

You assume wrongly.  There is no internal limit in bash to restrict the
number of recursive function calls.  You appear to be hitting a system
resource limit.

-- 
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
( ``Discere est Dolere'' -- chet)

Chet Ramey, CWRU    chet@po.CWRU.Edu    http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/