Zbigniew Jędrzejewski-Szmek [off-list ref] writes:
mksh does not allow $COLUMNS to be set below 12. Quoting mksh(1)
$COLUMNS is "always set, defaults to 80, unless the value as reported
by stty(1) is non-zero and sane enough". This applies also to setting
it directly for one command:
$ COLUMNS=30 python -c 'import os; print os.environ["COLUMNS"]'
30
$ COLUMNS=20 python -c 'import os; print os.environ["COLUMNS"]'
20
$ COLUMNS=10 python -c 'import os; print os.environ["COLUMNS"]'
98
I wonder if this is an easier workaround, though.
env COLUMNS=10 $cmd
In any case, I'd split this patch to three, as these tests belong to two
independent topics.