Re: using the variable name, GROUPS, in a read list

[Greg Wooledge]

On Wed, Mar 07, 2012 at 04:54:14PM +0100, Jim Meyering wrote:
> Is there a moral here, other than to avoid using special variable names?
> Probably to prefer lower-case variable names.

You've nailed it.  Or more precisely, avoid all-upper-case variable names,
because they tend to collide with environment variables and special shell
variables.  Any variable name with at least one lower-case letter should
be safe.

There is an unfortunate long-lived bad habit that's floating around out
there, where people think they're supposed to use all-caps variable names
in shell scripts.  That is not a good idea, and you've just stumbled upon
one of the many reasons why.