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RE: files without package



Max Hyre wrote:

>   Dear Andreas:
>
>Casper BodenCummins wrote:
>
>>  /usr/bin/[*
>>  This is junk. Blow it away.
>
>DON'T DO IT!
>
>Whew---sorry for shouting, but:  This is indeed a file named ``['',
>and it's executable (hence the ``*'' in what must be an ls -lF
>listing).
>
>``['' is a synonym for the ``test'' command, used in shell programming
>constructs such as:
[..]

Hey, *sorry* folks (especially Andreas). This bit of bad advice really
generated a lot of replies. I never would have realised that "[" was a
link to "test" - what a bizarre-looking and cunning way to do it.

It brings to mind the unofficial SAS motto: assumption is the mother of
all f*ck-ups.

Casper Boden-Cummins.



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