I would like to request that ksh93 be updated in -current. I use both Slackware and NetBSD and I am trying to standardize shells to reduce the risk of a spectacular catastrophe.



As it stands, the version is as follows:

I believe the latest stable upstream version is 93u, released some time in 2012. For some reason the AT&T download section is not working for me at the moment, so I can't be sure about this.

Thank you.

At my repository [1] you can find an updated SlackBuild for ksh-93 (under system/ksh-93). Check if it can helps you to install a newer version.

Cheers.

[1] https://bitbucket.org/nihilismus/slackbuilds/

Thank you for your reply Antonio. I finally got my hands on the source and edited the Slackbuild script accordingly. I created and installed the updated package but I was just suggesting that it might be an idea to have the updated shell included by default in the next version of Slackware. So far I have had no problems with it myself.

Hi, gezley,

So, I'm wondering -- what did you download from AT&T? I got INIT.2012-08-01.tgz and INIT.2013-05-24.tgz (seems like the newer INIT might be better?). I also got ast-ksh.2012-08-01.tgz (these from the ksh directory).

Looking at the Slackware ap/ksh93 source directory, there are INIT.2010-06-21.tgz, ast-ksh-locale.2010-02-02.tgz, and ast-ksh.2010-06-21.tgz (although the locale file does not seem to be created or used in the SlackBuild).

Before I go off the deep end, do I have the right stuff (and where the heck do you get the locale file if it's needed)?

I've just been following this thread because I only use KornShell and, you know, why not update?

Thanks.

Hi Tronayne,

I first downloaded these two source tarballs from the website (which is very unreliable, at least here):

INIT.2012-08-01.tgz
ast-ksh.2012-08-01.tgz

When I downloaded them INIT.2013-05-24.tgz wasn't available.

All I did then was to replace VERSION=2010-06-21 with VERSION=2012-08-01 in the slackbuild script (and the same for PKGVER); I put the tarballs in the same directory; and I ran the slackbuild as root. This created the package which I was able to install with installpkg. I'm not sure if I did it the right way; on reflection perhaps I should have used upgradepkg instead, but everything has been going OK for me for the last week or so. I'm a shell novice so don't rely on my judgement. I do like the Korn shell: it just seems to have a professional feel about it.

Good luck!

As an aside, David Korn is a really great guy. He was the first UNIX demigod I ever met. I was at a LinuxWorld conference in NYC and he came wandering up to the booth and just stood there smiling (I was talking to a bunch of other people at the time). After things got a little more quiet, I glanced at his badge and it was all I could do to keep from going into groupie mode. We ended up having a great discussion about UNIX, Linux, and his shell, which he told me he was trying to get AT&T to make free enough that we could drop pdksh and include the real deal instead.

I'll look into getting updates into -current.

6 members found this post helpful.

WOW! Impressive!!

Ahh, seems like a good excuse to drag this old story out. Old timers will probably have seen it before,
but maybe the younger slackers will appreciate it.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you very much.

So, Pat, what's the locale for -- really doesn't look like it gets used in the build (and, if it does get used, where the heck is it found)?

Yup, David Korn is one of the good guys (heard him give a talk once); I felt the same way when I met Brian Kernighan (also a great guy) some years ago, hard not to go all groupie (he's teaching at Princeton nowadays, gotta think that would be a real worthwhile class).

You know, it's funny how the really, really smart folks usually turn out to be some of the nicest you'd ever want to meet -- I've been privileged to meet a few and they've pretty much all turned out to be a lot fun to be with and you wind up learning a few things while you're at it.

Korn's The KornShell Command and Programming Language (co-written with Morris Bolsky) shares a lot in common with Kernighan, Ritchie (RIP Dennis), Thompson, Kochan, Wood and others that came up through Bell Labs -- every one readable, understandable, free of fluff and still sitting on my shelves getting referred to now and again.

Will I keep using KornShell? Dang right -- it works.

1 members found this post helpful.

It's available here http://www2.research.att.com/sw/download/alpha/

BTW, the license of ksh93 is now EPL and if i recall you should buil ast-ksh with the same version of INIT, something that is taking into place in my updated SlackBuild. OTOH, at the time i updated ksh93's SlackBuild i couldn't find information about the *locale* package, so i just commented all lines that makes references to it.

Finally, i'm using mksh (https://www.mirbsd.org/mksh.htm) since it seems more stable and actively developed than ksh93.

Cheers.

Woo hoo! Thank you so much!

Line 70 and 80 the SlackBuild calls "/bin/ksh".

Mister Volkerding can you change that to "/bin/sh" for those who don't have the Korn shell installed yet ?

Uh, KornShell is and has been standard equipment in Slackware for a long, long time; should be there unless you've removed it for some reason.
If you did remove it, simply install it from your distribution CD-ROM/DVD -- it's in ap/ksh93.

Hope this helps some.

Thank you, Pat.

Downloaded from the source tree at OSUOSL, built on my main work station (64-bit 14.0), upgradepk, log out, log in, viola! Compiling as we speak on one of the (32-bit 14.0) boxes, no runs, no drips, no errors.

Elegant command and programming language.