From: ron@ronnatalie.com (Ron Natalie)
Subject: /bin/true (was [TUHS] basic tools / Universal Unix)
Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2017 10:52:29 -0400 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <009a01d348e9$e3dce200$ab96a600$@ronnatalie.com> (raw)
My favorite reduction to absurdity was /bin/true. Someone decided we
needed shell commands for true and false. Easy enough to add a script that
said "exit 0" or exit 1" as its only line.
Then someone realized that the "exit 0" in /bin true was superfluous, the
default return was 0. /bin/true turned into an empty, yet executable, file.
Then the lawyers got involved. We got a version of a packaged UNIX (I
think it was Interactive Systems). Every shell script got twelve lines of
copyright/license boilerplate. Including /bin true.
The file had nothing but useless comment in it.
next reply other threads:[~2017-10-19 14:52 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 26+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2017-10-19 14:52 Ron Natalie [this message]
2017-10-19 15:01 ` Pete Wright
2017-10-19 15:17 ` Chet Ramey
2017-10-19 21:23 ` Steffen Nurpmeso
2017-10-19 21:43 ` Chet Ramey
2017-10-19 23:00 ` [TUHS] /bin/true (was " Dave Horsfall
2017-10-19 23:14 ` Grant Taylor
2017-10-19 23:23 ` Lyndon Nerenberg
2017-10-19 23:27 ` Kurt H Maier
2017-10-22 4:18 ` Dave Horsfall
2017-10-20 12:10 ` Chet Ramey
2017-10-19 21:43 ` /bin/true (was [TUHS] " Dave Horsfall
2017-10-19 22:04 ` Ronald Natalie
2017-10-19 23:25 ` [TUHS] /bin/true (was " Dave Horsfall
[not found] ` <CAEoi9W7YZ7YXUip0JTMGip3Nd0czgdjqRCMRcK2GYmDJsckuDg@mail.gmail.com>
[not found] ` <CAEoi9W4zdJ3+RXjK5-5rAJ6rwx_0kx6N-bn1U61=txJGyLT_mw@mail.gmail.com>
2017-10-20 1:27 ` Dan Cross
2017-10-20 1:31 ` Lyndon Nerenberg
2017-10-20 2:05 ` Ronald Natalie
2017-11-28 16:21 ` Nemo
2017-11-28 17:56 ` Warner Losh
2017-11-28 18:26 ` Dan Cross
2017-11-28 18:41 ` Warner Losh
2017-11-28 19:09 ` Dan Cross
2017-11-28 20:34 ` Clem Cole
2017-11-28 22:42 ` Ralph Corderoy
2017-11-28 18:34 ` Bakul Shah
2017-11-28 23:25 ` Ralph Corderoy
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