>>>>> "JL" == James Lick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
JL> Move current ksh to ksh88, add ksh93, and make ksh a link to ksh88.
JL> Include a script to change the link to/from ksh88 or ksh93 so people
JL> can configure the default to taste easily. In a future release the
JL> link would point to ksh93 instead (pre-announced), and those with
JL> compatibility problems can use the config script to change it back if
JL> needed. In opensolaris you could have the link default to ksh93 until
JL> such a time as there is an open source ksh88 or ksh88 is added to
JL> closed-bins.
Unfortunately, before such a thing could be supported, we'd have to ensure that
all ksh-using scripts shipped with Solaris were compatible with ksh93 (or we
could change the #! lines, which might be almost as hard).
As hard as that would be, it pales in comparison to the effort required to
convert/prepare the rest of the company, not to mention the ISV community.
It's all well and good to have a changeable symlink, but not so good if all of
your software jumps into the unsupported column when you change it.
Solaris has a hard-earned reputation for stability. While such a reputation
has its advantages, there are also disadvantages, one of them being that
fundamental changes like this must necessarily happen on a geological time
scale.
The right approach is probably to ship ksh93 as `ksh93' for several years,
perhaps accompanied by a note indicating that we may migrate in a future
release. Then we switch. My guess would be that you wouldn't see the switch
until Solaris 12 (at the earliest).
Matt
--
Matt Simmons - [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Solaris Kernel - New York
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.
-- George Carlin
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