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From: gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Possible bug in SunOS System V echo?
Message-ID: <12762@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Date: 2 May 90 06:01:45 GMT
References: <4852@helios.TAMU.EDU> <14020094@hpisod2.HP.COM>
Organization: U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory
Lines: 17

In article <14020094@hpisod2.HP.COM> decot@hpisod2.HP.COM (Dave Decot) writes:
-> One would think that 1003.2 would get this
-> straightened out, but as a practical matter we need more than just a
-> final standard spec for "echo", we also need a viable transition plan.
-A viable transition plan has been decided and published in POSIX.2 Draft 9.
-Of course, the uses of echo that were always portable remain so:
-    echo Hello world!
-However, in the POSIX environment, thou shalt not depend on non-portable
-behavior.  Thou shalt not use "echo" with an -n option, and thou shalt
-not use any sequences such as "\c", "\n", or "\b" in its arguments.  Use
-of either causes unspecified output.
-If thou requirest special processing beyond simply echoing printing
-characters followed by a newline, thou shalt use the "printf" utility:
-    printf "Hi there!\n\nEnter your name: "

Well, that's dumb.  Now I have to support TWO commands, where one would do.
What sort of standardization is this?