Hi Mike, Peter,
> or do we document that we expect `rm -f` to work,
I don't see a reason to break working code wrt rm -f merely for cosmetic
purposes.
test -z "$(VAR)" || rm -f $(VAR)
does not actually seem "awful" to me. And I fail to see any significant
gain by simplifying it.
Whatever POSIX says, we can be sure that reality differs.
Although systems that fail on "rm -f" are few and far between by now,
they are not nonexistent. So why break them?
My idea is to let the existing code stand (forever).
In the alternative, I agree with Peter that at least providing an
overridable variable would be desirable. --thanks, karl.