Re: Not finding sha256sum

[Paul Eggert]

Thanks for reporting that.  The documentation is in error; it
mistakenly describes a coreutils feature that isn't in the stable
version yet.  I installed the following patch on the b5_9x branch, and
it should propagate to the web site after the next stable version is out.

2005-12-16  Paul Eggert  <address@hidden>

        * doc/coreutils.texi: Remove documentation of SHA-1 and SHA-2
        utilities that slipped in by accident in the b5_9x branch.

--- doc/coreutils.texi  2 Nov 2005 14:59:17 -0000       1.289.2.1
+++ doc/coreutils.texi  16 Dec 2005 08:51:12 -0000      1.289.2.2
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 @c FIXME: the following need documentation
 @c * [: (coreutils)[ invocation.                   File/string tests.
 @c * pinky: (coreutils)pinky invocation.           FIXME.
address@hidden * shasum: (coreutils)shasum invocation.         Print or check 
message-digests.
 @c * uptime: (coreutils)uptime invocation.         FIXME.
 
 @dircategory Individual utilities
@@ -73,7 +74,7 @@
 * ln: (coreutils)ln invocation.                 Make links between files.
 * logname: (coreutils)logname invocation.       Print current login name.
 * ls: (coreutils)ls invocation.                 List directory contents.
-* md5sum: (coreutils)md5sum invocation.         Print or check MD5 digests.
+* md5sum: (coreutils)md5sum invocation.         Print or check message-digests.
 * mkdir: (coreutils)mkdir invocation.           Create directories.
 * mkfifo: (coreutils)mkfifo invocation.         Create FIFOs (named pipes).
 * mknod: (coreutils)mknod invocation.           Create special files.
@@ -93,8 +94,6 @@
 * rm: (coreutils)rm invocation.                 Remove files.
 * rmdir: (coreutils)rmdir invocation.           Remove empty directories.
 * seq: (coreutils)seq invocation.               Print numeric sequences
-* sha1sum: (coreutils)sha1sum invocation.       Print or check SHA-1 digests.
-* sha2: (coreutils)sha2 utilities.              Print or check SHA-2 digests.
 * shred: (coreutils)shred invocation.           Remove files more securely.
 * sleep: (coreutils)sleep invocation.           Delay for a specified time.
 * sort: (coreutils)sort invocation.             Sort text files.
@@ -172,7 +171,7 @@ Free Documentation License''.
 * Output of entire files::             cat tac nl od
 * Formatting file contents::           fmt pr fold
 * Output of parts of files::           head tail split csplit
-* Summarizing files::                  wc sum cksum md5sum sha1sum sha2
+* Summarizing files::                  wc sum cksum md5sum
 * Operating on sorted files::          sort uniq comm ptx tsort
 * Operating on fields within a line::  cut paste join
 * Operating on characters::            tr expand unexpand
@@ -237,9 +236,7 @@ Summarizing files
 * wc invocation::               Print newline, word, and byte counts.
 * sum invocation::              Print checksum and block counts.
 * cksum invocation::            Print CRC checksum and byte counts.
-* md5sum invocation::           Print or check MD5 digests.
-* sha1sum invocation::          Print or check SHA-1 digests.
-* sha2 utilities::              Print or check SHA-2 digests.
+* md5sum invocation::           Print or check message-digests.
 
 Operating on sorted files
 
@@ -2799,9 +2796,7 @@ contents of files.
 * wc invocation::               Print newline, word, and byte counts.
 * sum invocation::              Print checksum and block counts.
 * cksum invocation::            Print CRC checksum and byte counts.
-* md5sum invocation::           Print or check MD5 digests.
-* sha1sum invocation::          Print or check SHA-1 digests.
-* sha2 utilities::              Print or check SHA-2 digests.
+* md5sum invocation::           Print or check message-digests.
 @end menu
 
 
@@ -2975,10 +2970,9 @@ options}.
 
 
 @node md5sum invocation
address@hidden @command{md5sum}: Print or check MD5 digests
address@hidden @command{md5sum}: Print or check message-digests
 
 @pindex md5sum
address@hidden MD5
 @cindex 128-bit checksum
 @cindex checksum, 128-bit
 @cindex fingerprint, 128-bit
@@ -2986,19 +2980,6 @@ options}.
 
 @command{md5sum} computes a 128-bit checksum (or @dfn{fingerprint} or
 @dfn{message-digest}) for each specified @var{file}.
-
-Note: The MD5 digest is more reliable than a simple CRC (provided by
-the @command{cksum} command) for detecting accidental file corruption,
-as the chances of accidentally having two files with indentical MD5
-are vanishingly small.  However, it should not be considered truly
-secure against malicious tampering: although finding a file with a
-given MD5 fingerprint, or modifying a file so as to retain its MD5 are
-considered infeasible at the moment, it is known how to produce
-different files with identical MD5 (a ``collision''), something which
-can be a security issue in certain contexts.  For more secure hashes,
-consider using SHA-1 or SHA-2.  @xref{sha1sum invocation}, and
address@hidden utilities}.
-
 If a @var{file} is specified as @samp{-} or if no files are given
 @command{md5sum} computes the checksum for the standard input.
 @command{md5sum} can also determine whether a file and checksum are
@@ -3091,64 +3072,6 @@ are valid.
 @exitstatus
 
 
address@hidden sha1sum invocation
address@hidden @command{sha1sum}: Print or check SHA-1 digests
-
address@hidden sha1sum
address@hidden SHA-1
address@hidden 160-bit checksum
address@hidden checksum, 160-bit
address@hidden fingerprint, 160-bit
address@hidden message-digest, 160-bit
-
address@hidden computes a 160-bit checksum for each specified
address@hidden  The usage and options of this command are precisely the
-same as for @command{md5sum}.  @xref{md5sum invocation}.
-
-Note: The SHA-1 digest is more secure than MD5, and no collisions of
-it are known (different files having the same fingerprint).  However,
-it is known that they can be produced with considerable, but not
-unreasonable, resources.  For this reason, it is generally considered
-that SHA-1 should be gradually phased out in favor of the more secure
-SHA-2 hash algorithms.  @xref{sha2 utilities}.
-
-
address@hidden sha2 utilities
address@hidden sha2 utilities: Print or check SHA-2 digests
-
address@hidden sha224sum
address@hidden sha256sum
address@hidden sha384sum
address@hidden sha512sum
address@hidden SHA-2
address@hidden 224-bit checksum
address@hidden 256-bit checksum
address@hidden 384-bit checksum
address@hidden 512-bit checksum
address@hidden checksum, 224-bit
address@hidden checksum, 256-bit
address@hidden checksum, 384-bit
address@hidden checksum, 512-bit
address@hidden fingerprint, 224-bit
address@hidden fingerprint, 256-bit
address@hidden fingerprint, 384-bit
address@hidden fingerprint, 512-bit
address@hidden message-digest, 224-bit
address@hidden message-digest, 256-bit
address@hidden message-digest, 384-bit
address@hidden message-digest, 512-bit
-
-The commands @command{sha224sum}, @command{sha256sum},
address@hidden and @command{sha512sum} compute checksums of
-various lengths (respectively 224, 256, 384 and 512 bits),
-collectively known as the SHA-2 hashes.  The usage and options of
-these commands are precisely the same as for @command{md5sum}.
address@hidden invocation}.
-
-Note: The SHA384 and SHA512 digests are considerably slower to
-compute, especially on 32-bit computers, than SHA224 or SHA256.
-
-
 @node Operating on sorted files
 @chapter Operating on sorted files