Re: TOOLS_PLATFORM.bash required version

[Jonathan Perkin <jperkin%pkgsrc.org@localhost>]

* On 2026-06-30 at 23:18 BST, Greg Troxel wrote:

> I have proposed that TOOLS_PLATFORM.bash must be >= 5.  That means
> systems with bash 4 can't set it, and bash will be built from pkgsrc on
> those platforms.  A little cpu time, and taking lots of potential
> trouble off the table.
>
> So:
>
>  Do you know of any actual systems that have a builtin bash that is 4?
>  (Yesterday, macOS had builtin bash 3, and today it has no builtin
>  bash.)

We still ship 4.3.30 on SmartOS.  Given the massive potential for 
breakage as it's used by all scripts in our product, as well as the 
primary shell for pkgsrc so used for everything there too, we've always 
been wary of upgrading unless absolutely required.

>  Are these systems even remotely supported (security fixes from their
>  upstream)?

Yes, we release a brand new version every 2 weeks.

> Alternatively, have you done a bulk build on such a system, and run it
> as a desktop, so there's a good basis to believe bash4 is ok for the
> many hundreds of packages that use it as a tool?

Every day for the past 10+ years ;)

--
Jonathan Perkin                    pkgsrc.smartos.org
Open Source Complete Cloud   www.tritondatacenter.com