Bug#267142: debian-policy: Sections 10.4 and 6.1 are inconsistent (Posix doesn't say what you think it says)

[Thomas Bushnell BSG <tb@becket.net>]

Clint Adams <schizo@debian.org> writes:

> > Wrong, posh has a built-in 'test' command which is crippled. That is what
> > this whole thread is about. This 'test' built-in override /usr/bin/test
> > which support more options such as -a and -o that are commonly used.
> 
> And #!/bin/sh scripts using "-a" and "-o" as binary operators to test
> are violating policy whether or not posh would tolerate it.

This is incorrect.

Policy requires restriction to Posix-specified shell features.  "test"
is not a shell feature according to Posix.

On the other hand, if you say "Posix allows test to be builtin,
therefore it is a shell feature", then the consequences are horrible,
because Posix allows *anything whatsoever* to be builtin, including
say "debconf", and for a command like "debconf" the builtin could do
*anything whatsoever*.

So that second interpretation is clearly not correct.  Thus the former
one is.

Thomas