Re: [PATCH] test: fix for COLUMNS and bash 5

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason wrote:

On Thu, Aug 05 2021, Felipe Contreras wrote:

quoted

Since c49a177bec (test-lib.sh: set COLUMNS=80 for --verbose
repeatability, 2021-06-29) multiple tests have been failing when using
bash 5 because checkwinsize is enabled by default, therefore COLUMNS is
reset using TIOCGWINSZ even for non-interactive shells.

It's debatable whether or not bash should even be doing that, but for
now we can avoid this undesirable behavior by disabling this option.

Reported-by: Fabian Stelzer <redacted>
Signed-off-by: Felipe Contreras <redacted>

I've got an alternative way of solving the same immeditate issue in[1],
there's discussion on that approach in the latest What's Cooking[2].

Yes, but I'm not allowed to participate in that discussion.

My preference for mine is in no small part that I'd like to not be
responsible for into-the-past test suite breakage the next time a
popular shell decides to be clever about COLUMNS.

But this way we'll solve the immediate problem with bash, and I can say
I told you so if that submarine breakage occurs with this approach :)

I believe what bash is doing is a mistake. I don't think COLUMNS should
be updated within a non-interactive shell by default. I'll report that
as a bug once I'm able to subsscribe to the bug-bash mailing list.

So I think it's the opposite: not only would similar fixes not be needed
for other shells, but it won't be needed for bash either.

-- 
Felipe Contreras