This is not a bug, but expected behaviour. If an ordering option is supplied to '-k' ('n' in this particular case), global ordering options are overridden.
I.e. when sort is called this way: sort --reverse -k2 the global option '--reverse' takes effect. But in this case: sort --reverse -k2n the '--reverse' option is overridden by 'n', therefore the command becomes equivalent to: sort -n -k2 The solution woud be to to either stick to global options: sort --reverse --numeric-sort -k2 or if sorting options for multiple fields are required, to add a local reverse option to '-k': sort -k2rn BTW: this behaviour is also documented in the man page: ... -k, --key=KEYDEF sort via a key; KEYDEF gives location and type ... KEYDEF is F[.C][OPTS][,F[.C][OPTS]] for start and stop position, where F is a field number and C a character position in the field; both are origin 1, and the stop position defaults to the line's end. If neither -t nor -b is in effect, characters in a field are counted from the beginning of the preceding whitespace. OPTS is one or more single-letter ordering options [bdfgiMhnRrV], which override global ordering options for that key. If no key is given, use the entire line as the key. ... -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1404548 Title: sort --reverse does not reverse numeric sorts To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/coreutils/+bug/1404548/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs