Re: head -1 fails with _POSIX2_VERSION=200112

[Paul Eggert]

Vincent Lefevre <address@hidden> writes:

> As said by the POSIX FAQ Q15, POSIX does not disallow this form:
>
> http://www.opengroup.org/austin/papers/posix_faq.html

Yes, and coreutils CVS was updated about the same time that FAQ Q15
was written -- it was all part of the same process of clarifying and
revising this area POSIX.  As I understand it the POSIX spec is also
planned to be formally updated in a future version.

Unfortunately the current POSIX spec and the current stable coreutils
have been out for a while.  I suggest 'sed 1q' as a portable
alternative to 'head -1', since by all accounts even the revised
(future) POSIX spec will not require support for 'head -1'.

(Also, "sed 1q" is a bit easier to type.  :-)