Bug#267142: debian-policy: Sections 10.4 and 6.1 are inconsistent (Posix doesn't say what you think it says)
> My package expects test not to be a builtin, and restricts itself to
> the features of Debian /usr/bin/test. It happens to work as well if
> the shell implements a consistent builtin, but it certainly does not
> rely on this. What it relies on is the disjunction "test is either
> not builtin, or is builtin compatably with /usr/bin/test."
The "builtin" is a red herring. Your package will be none the wiser if
a shell implements a "test" conforming to the de facto coreutils spec in
the form of a builtin, a shell function, or something else.
> Which is just the same as "debconf is either not builtin, or is
> builtin compatably with /usr/bin/debconf."
Right. What you really want is to rely on the established debconf
interface.
> Quite right; this is the downside of the list-of-shells approach.
>
> But consider: Suppose the bash maintainer decides to add a builtin
> called "scsh", which turns on a special "screen shell" mode.
>
> And suddenly, any package that uses the scsh program will fail! There
> is a bug here somewhere; either in the package or in bash. But the
> current policy 10.4 makes entirely unclear what to do.
Agreed. However, it is likely that someone will be able to qualify this
bug without the aid of 10.4.
> It is this problem which my bug report is intended to address. The
> list-of-shells approach clarifies, but other approaches would as
> well. "Just ignore it" doesn't clarify.
>
> Nor is it clear, because, for example, it doesn't specify how to
> understand the test -a situation!
If it is correct for 10.4 to address these problems, then 10.4 should be
clarified.
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