2011-09-14, 09:46(+01), Wheatley, Martin R: [...] > Description: > The contents of the environment variable TMOUT are used are the > default timeout for the read builtin command when reading from > a TTY or pipe AND as a shell command input idle time. > > This can lead to random failures of shell scripts [...] > I think the TMOUT should not be overloaded and its use as a default > value > for the read builtin - especially for sub-shell pipelines is dangerous > and should be discontinued otherwise all bash scripts that use the read > builtin > need to be modified to include TMOUT=0.
That's not the only problematic variable. See also http://groups.google.com/group/comp.unix.shell/browse_thread/thread/cf7d5147dd829cf9/ef5b5b49a676b99d#ef5b5b49a676b99d And here is what Geoff Glare from the Austin Group (the body behind POSIX) had to say when I raised it some time ago: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.unix.shell/browse_thread/thread/60c3e67919c36d0a/25ab970d275ecdb7#25ab970d275ecdb7 In short: if one sets a TMOUT environment variable, the easy fix is to tell them: DON'T! -- Stephane
