Re: Identifying the NetBSD shell

[Robert Elz <kre%munnari.OZ.AU@localhost>]

    Date:        Mon, 21 Mar 2016 15:00:18 +0800 (PHT)
    From:        Paul Goyette <paul%whooppee.com@localhost>
    Message-ID:  <Pine.NEB.4.64.1603211459540.26427%pokey.whooppee.com@localhost>

  | > Given the (very) slight preponderence above for xxx_VERSION, why not use 
  | > NBSD_VERSION?
  | 
  | Er, typo, should have been
  | 
  |  	NBSH_VERSION

I didn't much like the first attempt, but that one is certainly plausible.

  | > 2) what value should it have? 
  | Hmmm.  Start with "1.0" and increment when "appropriate"?

That's certainly one possibility.

  | The shell version should/would be separate from system version, right?

Not identical, for sure, but perhaps they don't have to be totally different,
but could be related.

  | We can always use uname(1) for OS version.

Yes, replacing that is definitely not an objective.

  | Sidebar:  perhaps the shell version could be used as a proxy for the 
  | "userland version" to detect userland/kernel mismtaches?

That kind of possibility, and discussion of whether it would be useful
or not, is what I am hoping to see.   And any other similar possible uses.

For my primary purpose (I want to know I am in the NetBSD shell so $ENV
can do the right things) it doesn't matter at all what the value is.  But
just having a variable that is set or unset with no defined value seems
like a waste of an opportunity, so ...   (nb: the variable value does not
have to be the shell version string, though if we call it NBSH_VERSION it
will probably be expected to be that.)

kre