[Bug 1366451] Re: "mksh -v" should display mksh's version number, plus the attached chunk of text, onscreen

[Thorsten Glaser]

No.

• GNU --long-options have nothing to do with a Unix program.
• A flag to display the version is not historically customary in Unix programs.
  The adoption of -V (not -v which is verbose) is recent and not normally used.
• “mksh -x” is the same as running “set -x” in the shell, which means that the
  namespace for these options is defined by, mostly, POSIX/SUSv4, on which we
  will not infringe for something like that.

The Android user would just type “set“, or “echo $KSH_VERSION”.

The Debian or *buntu user would just type “dpkg-query -W mksh” or (more
common but cuts off version numbers) “dpkg -l mksh”.

** Changed in: mksh
       Status: New => Opinion

** Changed in: mksh (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Opinion

** Changed in: mksh (Debian)
       Status: New => Opinion

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1366451

Title:
  "mksh -v" should display mksh's version number, plus the attached
  chunk of text, onscreen

Status in The MirBSD Korn Shell:
  Opinion
Status in “mksh” package in Ubuntu:
  Opinion
Status in “mksh” package in Debian:
  Opinion

Bug description:
  It's customary in the Unix world that "-v" or "--version" displays a
  program's version. If someone is logged into an Android device, you
  want to make it easy for them to find out which shell is installed.
  How can you do this? One way is to offer a "-v" option which will tell
  them the answer (and will also tell them mksh's version number).

  May I suggest that, if the user runs "mksh -v", then mksh should echo
  the following to stdout, after which it should immediately exit.

  --- cut here ---
  mksh R50b+cvs
  This is mksh, the MirBSD Korn Shell.

  Homepage:  <http://mirbsd.de/mksh>.

  Copyright (C) 2002-2014 Thorsten Glaser.
  This is open-source software; see <https://www.mirbsd.org/TaC-mksh.txt> for copying conditions.

  This work is provided "AS IS" and WITHOUT WARRANTY of any kind, to
  the utmost extent permitted by applicable law, neither express nor
  implied; without malicious intent or gross negligence.

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