bug#7305: sort command not working in version 5.5 as it did in 4.7

[Pádraig Brady]

On 17/11/10 23:51, Paul Eggert wrote:
> On 11/17/10 14:33, Pádraig Brady wrote:
> 
>> Note it scans command line args twice which
>> adds some overhead in all cases.
>> The first scan is to find --debug so we're not
>> dependent on the position of --debug
> 
> I have some qualms about that patch.  It's not just the extra overhead:
> the patch causes --debug to change the semantics of argument processing
> (as opposed to merely outputting debugging info), which could lead to
> Heisenbugs.  "The script started working when I added --debug"
> is a bug report that we never want to hear.

Yes that is marginally safer but less useful in the common
case of using an isolated +...

$ sort --debug +1
sort: using `en_US.utf8' sorting rules
sort: non-portable file name +1; use ./+1 instead
sort: open failed: +1: No such file or directory

Since neither solution is ideal, perhaps
it better to drop this. Simple changes for
marginal gains tend to compound.

I'll sleep on it.

cheers,
Pádraig.