Re: [PATCH] Replace "echo -n" with printf in shell scripts.

Simon 'corecode' Schubert [off-list ref] writes:

Junio C Hamano wrote:

quoted

quoted

quoted

We have done this already so it might be too late to raise this
question, but does everybody have printf?

The problematic are less common ones, ranging from (not so less
common) OSX, Solaris to (much less common) AIX that some people
seem to run git on (or at least compile git for).

printf(1) is part of POSIX/SUSv3, so systems *should* have it.

A lot of the portability problem we suffered were about the
things that systems *should* have it.

Unfortunately a standard does not matter a whit on its own when
dealing with the real world.  That's why I muttered the above
even though I knew POSIX says you should have one.

We use POSIX as one of the yardsticks to see what we should stay
away (i.e. "that is not even in POSIX so let's not use it for
now"), and also how far we are willing to bend over (i.e. "any
reasonable system should have it; besides, it is in POSIX.
Let's use it -- it is so convenient -- and insane platforms can
screw themselves").

The key point in the latter is that "besides" is not "because".