Re: [PATCH] grep: do not do external grep on skip-worktree entries

> 
> 
> On Sun, 3 Jan 2010, Miles Bader wrote:
> > 
> > Since it's a general attribute of solaris that the default (/usr/bin)
> > tools are horrible sysv things and the actual useful tools are in
> > e.g. /usr/xpg4/bin, maybe it would be better to just try and add that
> > directory to the path...?
> 
> There is no generic way to make solaris sane, I'm afraid.
> 
> Everybody agrees that the "normal" Solaris tools are so horrible that they 
> all set up some alternative. However, qutie often the preferred 
> alternative is the GNU versions, mostly installed in /usr/local, and then 
> they put that first in the path.

> Which means that if you put /usr/xpg4/bin before other paths in your PATH, 
> you'll totally break such systems, because now you get the (inferior) 
> tools in xpg4 before the preferred tools in /usr/local. Or - this also 
> happens - people end up installing their own versions in $HOME/bin, 
> because the system admin is uncaring or incompetent.
> 
> In other words, there is no single normal or default Solaris installation 
> that we can work around. The normal/default installation is so horrible 
> that it's virtually never used in any environment where people actually 
> have shell access and do development.
> 
> Don't ask me why. EVERYBODY knows that the default /usr/bin is total crap. 
> Even Sun people know. But there's apparently some very deep-seated reason 
> (probably not technical, but mental/historical) why they can't be fixed or 
> replaced, probably relating to "make world" and the whole build system.