Bob Proulx wrote: > Jim Meyering wrote: >> http://git.sv.gnu.org/cgit/coreutils.git/commit/?id=cf0fa2d930de1609 >> >> Use seq, not `yes' to generate link target. >> Otherwise, on systems (DJGPP) that emulate pipes using files, >> this test would never complete, waiting for `yes' to terminate. >> >> diff --git a/tests/du/slink b/tests/du/slink >> - name=`yes|tr '\n' y|head -c$len` >> + name=`seq 1 $len|tr -c x y |head -c$len` >> >> Is DJGPP still relevant? >> The last update of http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/ was in 2003. >> Now, I'm tempted to leave your seq|head pipe there, >> just to see if anyone notices. > > Is using files to emulate pipes even a valid operating model? I > wouldn't have thought so. In which case any system like that is just > insufficient to the task. Avoiding pipes just for such systems > doesn't seem very productive to me. > > I would be inclined to have a test not for the program but for the > operating system to ensure that the OS is sufficiently capable.
Precisely. That commit was over 7 years ago (mea culpa ;-). Our testing practices/policies have evolved since then, and the approach you and Pádraig suggest is definitely what I prefer now. There are many examples of skipping tests on less-capable systems.
