Re: 4.4 change in behavior from 4.3: how to catch unset when using ${#length}

[L. A. Walsh]

Chet Ramey wrote:
> Come on, don't be willfully obtuse. You know better than this. Posix mode
> doesn't mean "turning it off does everything the way Linda wants."
>   
No, but claiming posix as a backing for features running that are
not running with posix-mode set, is equally obtuse.

Bash is not limited to posix features or behavior -- otherwise there
would not be a "posix"-mode that forces it into posix behavior.

You can claim a feature is a certain way because posix requires it
when you are operating in posix-only mode.

bash is advertised as having a default operation that differs from
the POSIX standard.  If someone is not operating in posix mode, then
it is a "truism", that operations and features in the non-POSIX mode
might not comply with POSIX. 

I'm not being willfully obtuse -- I'm going by the manpage that says
bash's default differs from the POSIX standard when the posix mode
is not active:

--posix
     Change  the behavior of bash where the default operation differs
     from the POSIX standard to match the standard (posix mode).  See
     SEE  ALSO  below  for a reference to a document that details how
     posix mode affects bash's behavior.

From the bash manpage, it is obvious that the default mode is
different from POSIX.  I submit that quoting POSIX
as justification for bash's default-mode behavior is a much better
example of being willfully obtuse, since the manpage clearly says
default-operation is not POSIX.