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From: rick@seismo.CSS.GOV (Rick Adams)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: what should egrep '|root' /etc/passwd print?
Message-ID: <44414@beno.seismo.CSS.GOV>
Date: 13 Sep 88 22:28:05 GMT
Organization: Center for Seismic Studies, Arlington, VA
Lines: 17


What should 
	egrep '|root' /etc/passwd
print? (Presume you have one and only one line containing the string
root in /etc/passwd).

On BSD systems, it prints the single line containing root. On
System 5 systems it prints EVERY line.

Obviously the question is what should the null pattern to
the left of the "|" match. With BSD it matches nothing, with SYS5 it
matches everything.

(That patter was generated by aprogram in case you were wondering
who would ever type something like that)

---rick